STUART McADAM

I studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, graduating in 2008. I work across a variety of media and I am based in Glasgow.

 

My practice is research based, and I involve myself in actions and processes both in order to understand, and to form frames of reference for my visual art production. I only set parameters for action, I don’t control (nor desire control over) the outcomes. I am influenced by ideas associated with Conceptual Art and Dada, storytelling and mythology.

 

I often find myself in conflict between concept and form. Most of the concrete work I make functions as a sort of document to the processes and actions that I engage with. These objects are often not an end in themselves, and there is much cross functionality in the objects I make, with many things eventually given new meaning by a new process. Additionally, each new object or action tends to represent only a small part of the whole, and I enjoy this subtle and deliberate pace, with meaning unravelled and exposed as time passes.

 

The outcomes of my research manifest in many ways - my recent projects have primarily taken the form of journeys. In addition to the journeys themselves as an action, outcomes have taken the form of drawings, collage, three dimensional objects, film, performance, and writing. The subject matter for these works is varied, with recent works having made reference to subjects such as art history, mythology, war and death, pop music, comic books, and language.

 

At the moment, I am particularly interested in themes related to nomadism and transience. Both in terms of physically being nomadic and transient, as formalised by taking journeys, and conceptually as a model for my arts research. I tend to work intuitively without borders through ideas, processes and reference points towards an often undetermined set of conclusions.

 

The journey has become increasingly important to my research. I have begun to consider it as an articulation of sculptural form.

 

In 2010 I took my first major journey by bicycle in a project titled “A Proposal”. This was a solo trip from my home in Scotland to Utrecht in the Netherlands, where I used to live. I found this to function as a framework which I could use as a set of parameters to work within, as well as being a useful metaphor for the processes I work with. This was a break from my previous work, which although following similar methods, was focussed on spoken word performance and storytelling.

 

This project was followed up in 2011 with a walk and canoe trip in rural Perthshire and Angus. Working with artist and friend Neil Scott, we took a trip from the source of the River Isla, following it to the sea on foot and by canoe, again exploring ideas related to the journey as a frame and work in itself.

 

Current projects include the conclusion of a further collaborative work with Neil Scott, titled Union, which involves a trip through central Scotland in a self made canoe, and a new cycle based work to the north of England in June.