Exhibition: Colin Porter

Colin trained at Kew, and worked as a gardener and designer for over 30 years.
Several years ago he did a foundation degree in Fine Art at Petroc College. From there he went to Arts University
Plymouth and did a research degree and was awarded an MFA 3 years ago.

His work has recently been exhibited at the Devon Sculpture Park, and is also being taken over to Brittany where a
sculpture garden is being developed.
Colin’s art practice explores in a broader, eclectic way our connections with nature. Performance, word, music are all
part of the narrative. His main body of work is sculpture. His influences range from David Smith, Juan Barrantes,
Laurence Hain, Barbara Hepworth , Andy Goldsworthy. Natural and Found is the term we use to describe his work.
Materials, elements found and combined to make, first, a visual metaphor , a piece of sculpture, which often then
expands to make a story, a poem, sometimes with music.

There is an underlying strand within his work which is expressed, the spiritual sense of place, throughout, within and
without, all Colin tries to do.

What has emerged from his explorations is a kind of understanding of the entangled way humans, plants, animals,
microorganisms inevitably co-exist in the universe. We find that any entity can be seen to have properties that its parts
do not have on their own. We as artists can throw them in the air and when they fall on our workshop floor they look
different, they become, combined, maybe a statement, maybe a poem, a new piece of sculpture. Who knows.