Liam Shortridge

I've been an artist all my life. However, I hadn't taken art in my school or college days; instead, I used art-associated studies to fill the void of a thinly spread academic timetable. After my A Levels, an art teacher steered me to an art foundation course. After completing the foundation in 1988, I applied for furniture design courses, but by random chance, I found myself on a silversmithing course instead.

Frustratingly, it was all too fine for my clunky approach. So, I adapted the course to copper sculpting to an amicable conclusion: representatives from two intstitutions (Goldsmith Hall and Business Design Centre) toured the country, viewing students' work for a collective exhibition, and they selected my pieces to be shown. 

Come 1991, I am no longer a student and taking my fledgling steps into adulthood. After some exploring, I established Metal Myths. Where I would batch produce a range of craft items I had designed. I would sell my wares at craft fairs and through independent arts and crafts outlets. I had a notion of establishing an exclusive collectable range to be sold at distinguished outlets.

However, as is often the case, life and family got busy. So, the process slowed and shifted to bespoke pieces, still creating and finding the journey of shaping the physical a cathartic process. I take satisfaction from recycling and repurposing materials in protest of the neoliberal, disposable society that we have become. I have found the creative process to be a therapeutic one that helps me process past difficulties.

This is the time I'd like to share my work with you. I hope you enjoy it.

This exhibition centres around a trilogy of pieces: Incidence, Turmoil and Survival. Amongst a handful of other projects and busy family life, these pieces have been the focus of my expression this past decade. 

Without further ado, I present Metal, Memories and Mental Health: An Exhibition by Liam Shortridge.