Artists

Linda Styles
www.lindastyles.co.uk

Artist Statement (pdf)

I have always been subversive by nature, this trait, whether put there by nature or nurture, has led me to visit unusual situations and places throughout my life. Clues as to what this life has been and still is are evident in my art practice, if looked for hard enough.

I tend to see life as a lurid soap opera, in which I play a key part (Leo traits). I am seduced by excess and have been drawn, all my life, to difference in ways of seeing and doing.

I have developed my experimental approach to clay over the last 16 years, a long and arduous apprenticeship, aided by my intention to be progressive, perverse imagination, intuition, skill of the hand and eye, physical strength and limitless perseverance, using heat works and chemical concoctions as an effective vehicle with which to make mainly charming, superficially naïve and sometimes hideous popular ornament that carries an integrity of purpose that enhances homes and lives.

I compulsively crave order in an increasingly chaotic world. I am almost ritualistic in my preparation of physical and mental space. These patterns of behaviour are intrinsic to my art practice, so I have decided to make a feature of my quirks and foibles, such a relief. I have always preferred my work to be seen in assemblage and/or installation terms, an amalgamation of parts that are meant to be viewed as one cohesive, disjointed and juxtaposed whole.

I am very, very excited about the prospect of playing a part in Spontaneous Combustion and proud to be associated with this project and all of those involved.