Alex Malcolmson : Veering North

"I come from the north and often travel in that direction. However, in the 'deep south' of northern England, where I have my studio, I find that the experiences of wildlife and seascape embedded in early years readily surface in the pieces I make.

I have spent a lifetime making artwork, studying art and working with artists and makers. A lot of my interests lie outside the world of fine art and some of my pieces like the carved birds and ship dioramas are closely related to their folk art ancestors.

Ideas that begin in the north are filtered through the veils of so many other experiences. The birds for example, mostly based on species that are common in Shetland, are influenced by an interest in the work of American decoy carvers and also modernist sculpture so there is a tension between the ornithology and sculptural form. The herring drifter and other vessels carry a strong symbolism but the geometry of the rigging is as much an abstract motif as a description of a sail plan. Groups of objects, juxtaposed in boxes, conjure up a journey, a place or a time. There is always a strong draw to the north and the work usually originates there but is overlaid with influences from all points of the compass."- Alex Malcolmson, November 2023