Sam Stead
Bio
Sam Stead is an artist based in Reading, originally coming from Glasgow where he graduated with a degree in Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art. He had previously studied Molecular & Cellular Biology at the University of Glasgow and occasionally finds ways to combine his scientific background with his artistic practice.
He has exhibited across central Scotland and Northern England and his work generally involves the construction of sculptural objects, images and systems from simple component parts. Often abstract and geometric in form and composed of simple materials, these objects are a pared down exploration of line and surface as they extend into space.
Upon arriving in Reading in the summer of 2016, Sam began to concentrate on drawing, picking up on themes of repetition of linear elements that he had previously explored with computer-based maths visualisers that were translated into physical etchings.
Sam for MG
The double decker bus is such a ubiquitous object in our everyday lives and the exterior has always been recognised as an area which can be used to communicate with the world as the bus drives through it.
Line Drawing#25 & Line Drawing#26 are informed by an interest in mathematics and biological form, chaos, pattern, architectural & design theory as well as materials and their associated processes.
Applying these drawings to the exterior of the bus creates a visually arresting and intriguing surface which should draw viewers’ attention very quickly but also has enough elements of detail that rewards prolonged or repeated viewing over the course of the Gallery’s existence.
The drawings grow line by line, each line drawn in relation to the previous one or groups of lines. As more and more lines are drawn, a form emerges, quite organic in nature. The shifting proximity of individual curves at points seem to suggest solid forms but the internal physics perhaps don’t quite hold up to direct scrutiny as the eye is drawn around the drawing of an impossibly plausible object.
The abstract nature of the work and the manner in which it is drawn means that it isn’t intended to represent anything in particular, allowing the viewer the freedom to project their own interpretations onto it.
