Stuart Cairns

Here is a little photo essay of the evolution of a piece- from collected/selected- to composition -to drawing -to assembly. The object is selected on one of my walks, something about it catches my eye to the point where I can’t walk past it. Picked up and documented I then think about what I might make with it and try out various compositions with other found pieces or fabricated parts. There is a good deal of play at this point- sometimes I find I need to make a new piece to compliment the collected thing or to connect two elements together. Often nothing quite satisfactory appears and the piece is set to one side, for later consideration and I lift another. In this case I will come back to the piece -especially if it has a particular pull, sometimes another piece or another find will suddenly make a find work. Occasionally I will do a drawing of the piece I am thinking of- this attempts to capture the essence of the piece and helps focus on what shouldn’t be disturbed in the assembly process. How things are attached are a vital part of maintaining or extending the visual character of a piece- done badly and a the work can loose it’s essence. Once I think I know how to proceed I’ll assemble the piece- usually there is multiple attempts to get it just right or troubleshoot problems. When it looks right to me I know it is done – some pieces fail at this stage though so every piece is never a done deal. I hope this gives a sense of how i make and some of what goes into a piece.