THE LONELY ARTS CLUB
Natasha Day
Metal Material Maverick
What inspires me is material that is textural, flexible and unpredictable in its makeup meaning that I can manipulate it for alternative outcomes. I like to see what substances can do, a meeting of the physical and my imagination.
Put simply this means I am a material maverick, intent on a compositional outcome that has visual and tactile interest in an organic way.
After years of combining being a self -taught painter with my first career as a nurse, I finally began my BA Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts in 2017, becoming interested in the possibilities using mild steel and machinery in the 3D workshop. This was interrupted during covid where I had to made a side- ways move to other mutable materials, Muslin, Papier- Mache, and Cyanotype to name a few, to earn my degree. Continuing my studies onto the MA in Fine Art I restarted making small objects from steel using the grinder, the MIG welder and the plasma cutter to shape and create sculptures.
I have since developed my skills with the machinery to enable me to use more imaginative approaches to what can be achieved with this wonderful metal including Jewellery, handheld sculptures and larger work which I exhibit both locally and further afield. Groundwork Gallery in Kings Lynn will be stocking some of my steel Jewellery pieces in the spring of 2023.
For me the making of art….( Please then change the text to this…..) is influenced by both personal and organic themes that can be interpreted differently by the viewer but usually consist of references to weathering, change and resilience. I use many materials but currently steel. Using plain rusty lengths of mild steel bar, the plasma cutter, MIG Welder and Grinder, the process is almost a mosaic method, welding pieces together intuitively as I am working, using sketches as a start point if the piece is complicated. I use bronze waste and copper in my work and found objects from walks on the coast or repurposing from second- hand shops. My work often has design, decorative and ornamental aspects to it referencing my family Jewellery making history and includes my interests in human psychology and landscape.
Jewellery displayed at Groundwork gallery, Kings Lynn, from Spring 2023.
