Chris Millward

Moving Back & Forth Suspended, or as if Suspended From Above

2011 

Timber, steel, aluminium and chain

The main focus of my sculptural work is the aesthetic quality of materials combined with a high level of craftsmanship; appreciation of materials for their own qualities and love of making for its own sake. Using predominantly found wooden furniture, I restore and modify its appearance and transform it into storage units. These units contain quantities of metal objects made by a repeated process and presented in regimented rows and columns.

I find the contrast between wood and metal provides a visually pleasing aesthetic but there is also a hierarchical relationship present as the materials that are contained are stronger and more durable than the natural containers themselves.

The units are a personal attempt to keep and maintain an element of order and control in a world that is besieged by personal and peripheral chaos. Each individual object can be viewed as a special memory, an event or a relationship contained in a piece that has been subjected to its own inanimate past existence. In each case, the timber has been extracted from its natural trajectory and placed into another scenario. This suggests that history and the future are never set; they are always subject to change.