Shannon Clegg
Artist/Maker

About what I make

My work concentrates on the ever-changing relationship with nature and people. I hunt forms and materials that communicate the relationship of people with their environment.

My palettes, making processes and aesthetic language adapt to each new location, whether it be the gritty urban city of Newcastle or the richly ploughed fields of Cornwall.

I exploit combinations of found materials with a cross section of traditional craft processes in clay, metal and glass. Materials are the main drivers in the object making, while traditional hand skills in the making process allow me to explore and flesh out interesting material characteristics.

My practice is rooted in craft traditions but reinterpreted to construct contemporary mixed media sculptural pieces that reflect current thinking on global and local environmental issues.

My practice

Produce work for exhibition.
Work to commission.
Lead workshops in community groups and schools.
Teach art and professional practice development in further and higher education.
Participate in artist in residence programs.
Participate in collaborative projects.

Bio

After training In South Africa as a tailor I left for London at 23 and starry-eyed. An unsatisfactory stint in the fashion industry highlighted my appreciation for direct involvement with hand making techniques and materials. I re-trained in contemporary crafts graduating in 2007 from Falmouth University in Cornwall. After graduating was awarded the Crafts Council Next Move Scheme enabling me to set up my practice in the North East of England.

Q&A's

Describe your creative practice in 20 single words.

Assemblages. Sculptural. Site-responsive. Essential-craft. Material-juxtapositions. Documentary. Archival. Investigative. Private. Communicative. Process. Sense-making. Resourceful. Elemental. Eclectic. Raw. Fastidious. Quiet. Concise. Nomadic.

Describe your influences using 30 single words or short phrases.

Tribal culture
Vernacular architecture
Cornish ploughed fields
Nomadic lifestyle
Entrepreneurs
Natural history
Post-industrial landscapes
Time spent as a beekeeper
Mud hut construction techniques
Instinct
Social ecology
Found resources
Victorian plant collectors
Abandoned spaces
The Wilderness
Scrap heaps