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Artist Statement

 

My practice mines the past and a future whose unfulfilled promise lingers over a present exhausted by a totalitarian ideal modelled on technological progress at the expense of human relations. Often, the work takes traditional subjects - the figure and animal, and transforms them in a way fitting for a time when technology organises society in its image. The liminal space between the past, present, and future allows my work to meander until it finds its rhythm and place in the world - meaning is accumulated during and after the making, but rarely before. This spontaneity is informed by the sculptural and visual form of artefacts and religious icons from across cultures, along with their symbolic interpretations in popular culture. A process which highlights the abundance of cultural exchange throughout history.  

I work with and against the eternal presence of childhood, and the archetypes of power mediated during our formative years. The search for the idea and feeling of authentic experience associated with childhood is ever present, alongside the knowledge that universal patterns of power and their symbolism have already infiltrated and mediated this authentic ideal.

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Selected Group Shows​​

09/2026 Personal Relations curated by Hartslane, Cello Factory, London

08/2026 Now I make a leaf of Voices with The London Group, St Johns Waterloo, London ​​​

05/2026 The London Group Annual, The Handbag Factory, London

05/2026 Personal Relations curated by Hartslane, Centro Cultura Medusa, Padova

12/2025 Personal Relations curated by Hartslane, What Are Can Do, Amsterdam

12/2025 Southwark Park Galleries Open, London

11/2025   The London Group Open, Copeland Park Gallery, London

08/2025 The London Group at Linden Hall Studio, Kent

09/2025 Everything Then is Now, The Old Waiting Room, Peckham

01/2025  The London Group Annual, The Royal Watercolour Society, London

09/2024 Stillness in Movement with The London Group, Bermondsey Project Space, London

09/2024 Small Wonders with The London Group, Croydon Artspace, London

08/2024 Reality Check, Royal Society of Sculptors Summer Show curated by David McAlmont, London 

07/2024 Landscape with The London Group, St Johns Waterloo, London 

06/2024 Chelsea Arts Society Annual Open, Chelsea Town Hall

12/2023 Linden Hall Studio Winter Open, Deal, Kent
11/2023 Ing Discerning Eye selected by Chris Levine, Mall Galleries, London 

11/2023 The London Group Open, Copeland Park Gallery, London

09/2023 170 Annual RWA Open Exhibition, Bristol selected by Charmaine Watkiss and Meryl Ainslie

08/2023 The London Group at Linden Hall Studio Gallery, Deal, Kent

06/2023 Tethered Publics, Online

04/2023 The London Group at Scarborough, The Old Parcels Office

12/2022 Southwark Park Galleries Open, London

11/2022 The London Group at Bankside, London

08/2022 Catch your Breath with The London Group, St Johns Waterloo, London

12/2021 Southwark Park Galleries Open, London

11/2021 Ing Discerning Eye selected by Russell Tovey, Mall Galleries

​12/2020 On Being selected by Kim Power, Sculptors Alliance, New York [Online]

12/2020 Southwark Park Galleries Open, London [Online] 

12/2020 Artworks Open selected by Alex Schady and Michelle Williams Gamemaker, London

11/2020 ArtCan Open, Cello Factory selected by Gita Joshi [Cancelled] 

11/2019 The London Group Open, Cello Factory 

03/2019 RWA Sculpture Open Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol 

12/2018 Sculpture at Hampstead School of Art, London

07/2017 Plymouth Contemporary, Karst Gallery, Plymouth

01/2017 Staying with the Troubles, The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts

04/2016 Walker & Bromwich's Circus Between Worlds, Glasgow International

02/2016 Re:view, Pollok House, Glasgow
07/2015 Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Prize selected by Christine Borland, Jenni Lomax & 
               Laurence Sillars Baltic 39, Newcastle

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Awards​ & Grants

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2025 The Eaton Fund Grant 

2023 Elected into The Royal Society of Sculptors

2022 Elected into The London Group 

2019 RWA Sculpture Open Exhibition Prize Winner

2016 Hope Scott Trust Grant  

2015 Kenneth Armitage Sculpture Award

2015 Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Prize Discretionary Prize

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Residencies

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2020 Hampstead School of Art x Mount Anvil Temple Studio Residency

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Education

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2021 PGCE Art & Design, University College London

2016 Master of Letters in Sculpture, The Glasgow School of Art

2015 BA Fine Art, Leeds Arts University

2012 Access to HE, Leeds Arts University 

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Professional Experience

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2025                   Art & Design Teacher, Colfe's School, Lee

2022 - 2024     Art & Design Teacher, St Ursula's Convent School, Greenwich

2017 - 2021       Foundation Course Leader Hampstead School of Art

2017                    Visiting Lecturer BA Fine Art, Leeds Arts University

2017                    Studio Assistant, Oliver Beer Studio

2016                    Visiting Lecturer HNC Fine Art, Glasgow Clyde College

 © 2025 by Martin Darbyshire

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