BIO

Tony Charles gained a BA(Hons) in Fine art from Teesside University in 1999 and an MA in Fine Art from Northumbria University in 2001. In 2019 he completed a PhD at Sunderland University.

The practice of Tony Charles involves both painting and sculpture, often exploring the relationship between the two within art historical contexts. His approach to art is underpinned by experience of heavy industry and continually makes reference to industrial materials, processes and concepts. Tony has exhibited world-wide and was awarded The Premio Comel art prize in Rome in 2013.

Publications include ‘Nature Morte: How Contemporary Artists Re-invigorate the Still Life Tradition’ by Michael Petry. Thames and Hudson.

Tony lives and works in Teesside.

ABOUT THE ART

The installation for SelfScapes intends to challenge the tension between the man-made and the natural, questioning whether there is any difference between the two. Using steel wool as a material to imitate life, the work seeks to express a common human yearning for nature and proposes to suggest their natural union.

At a location near Adderstone a large tree that has been uprooted by strong winds still grows horizontally along the ground. It’s exposed roots are obscured by a bright green velvet blanket of moss, growing into a sculptural form.

‘Growth’, the installation of twisted strands of steel wool, mimics this natural process and flows as an organic simulation from a tangled mass on the tree roots down to the ground into branch like, expanding systems. Over time, the bright glistening greys of the material will corrode into an orange rust that will complement the colour of the moss. The title has various connotations. It refers to life but is also a business term used in manufacturing. It can also be used as a noun as in ‘a growth’, which is what this quite sinister looking sculptural installation can be viewed as.