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Mark Gibbs
Born 1967 UK
Education:
1986-87 Chelsea School of Art : Foundation Course in Art and Design;
1995-98 Cumbria College of Art and Design: BA Hons Fine Art. First Class Degree
Mark Gibbs recent work has focused on Northern animals; creatures of forest, moor and tundra... some of this work is a reaction to the threat to the Arctic from climate change and other man made issues.
Images of frozen forest, logging and migrating birds are embedded into
an ice-like resin, to form complex, multilayered sculptures, evoking
the Arctic. Made by a complex process of; casting, combining different
elements, and re-casting, the history of each piece is preserved and
revealed like the layers of an ice-core. Each piece can be either;
mounted on a plinth, wall mounted, or placed on a window-sill where
it's appearance will change with the light.
As unsustainable logging reduces forest cover more sunlight warms
the permafrost, bacteria in the now liquid water can decompose the vast
amount of organic matter preserved for thousands of years as peat, this
process produces huge quantities of methane. Many scientists believe
this process has already started and will lead to dramatic climate
change.
Price Range
£1300 - £2000
The silver birch is significant because as winter approaches reindeer migrate from arctic tundra into birch forest, where they eat the bark and lichens. Unsustainable logging in Russia and Scandinavia have reduced the reindeer's winter refuges, while the building of gas pipelines have disrupted migration routes.
European bison [Bison bonasus] illustrate this 'strength: vulnerability
theme well; after surviving the Ice Age the numbers of European bison
were reduced to just 12 individuals. The present population of about
3000 live in a forest reserve bordering Poland and Belarus, all
are descended from this tiny genetic pool and so are vulnerable to
disease. 'Bison bonasus industricus' sculptures have microchips
embedded in their surface... they are a sort of animal-machine
hybrid... the machine, the manmade mediating our experience of nature.
Mark Gibbs 2009
Recently working with a clear casting resin which imitates
ice... the piece 'rEvolution' contains images of a frozen city...
there is a theory that after a brief spell of warming the climate in
the Northern Hemisphere will flip into a new Ice Age... so perhaps the
animals will have the last laugh.
Since graduating Mark
Gibbs has exhibited Internationally, in London and in the North of
England.
Corporate and Private commission enquiries: please contact the gallery.
Awards
2008-04
Mark’s studio group; West Walls Artist’s Studios win
the ‘Drawing Inspiration Prize’ at ‘The Big
Draw’ National Drawing Event, for an unprecedented 5 consecutive
years. Prize giving at the National Gallery. Mark has been a member
of West Walls Artist’s Studios since 1998
2000
Northern Arts Small Assistance Award
1996
Shortlisted for a Northern Arts Graduate Award
1995
Stead McAlpine Travel Award
Corporate Collections
Royal College of Radiologists
Campbel Luytens and Co Ltd.
The Mastforce Group.
The Insight Co Ltd.
The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad

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