Emerging Artist Award 2021
Acrobats
Acrobats
650mm x 200 mm
Forged Steel
Jack Waygood
My practice is centrally shaped by first-hand experience of a subject matter.
I then make links, exploring topics such as the industrial revolution, commedia dell'arte and traveller culture; within this approach I am continuously collecting aesthetics and forms and documenting them in my sketchbook. I experiment and play around with the visual style projected in my work.
Symbolism embodies my designs and is used to provoke a sense of life and death. The imagery speaks of the struggling human condition and our impact upon the planet. I like to explore a wonderfully dark and bizarre language, like the harlequin offering intrigue and captivation but also tricks and danger.
I work with forged steel as my core process, the physicality and skill of manipulation is very important to me and I feel is made obvious in the end results. My creations have been used in collaborations and so-far have taken the form of sculpture, performance, live events and videos.
As an artist I am attempting to make my work engaging to audiences as well as being of a practical nature. I’m currently interested in street protest and environmental art and will be exploring ways to respond to this by means of adaption and mutable processes.