Alan Constable

BORN IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, IN 1965, ALAN CONSTABLE IS A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ART-MAKER WHOSE PROLIFIC OUTPUT INCLUDES DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES. HIS TWO-DIMENSIONAL WORKS APPROPRIATE IMAGERY FOUND IN NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES, SOMETIMES WITH A POLITICAL OR SOCIAL ASPECT. YET IT IS HIS ICONIC CERAMIC SCULPTURES WHICH HAVE PROPELLED HIM TO INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM.

CONSTABLE’S THEME IS THE CAMERA; HIS OVERSIZED CLAY REPLICAS REFLECT A LIFELONG FASCINATION WITH VISUAL TECHNOLOGY. SOME ARE HOUSEHOLD BRANDS: LEICA, CANON, ROLLEIFLEX, NIKON AND KONICA. OTHERS ARE LARGE FORMATS, LESSER-KNOWN EASTERN EUROPEAN MODELS OR DISCONTINUED LINES. THERE ARE MOVIE CAMERAS (BOTH SUPER 8MM AND 16MM), SLIDE PROJECTORS, BINOCULARS AND TELESCOPES.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ORIGINAL OBJECT DETERMINES THE PROPORTIONS OF THE SCULPTURE. CONSTABLE’S PROCESS INTERPRETS THE UTILITARIAN DESIGNS AND ABSTRACTS THEM. AS THE OVERSIZED STRUCTURES SAG AND COLLAPSE, SO HIS FINGERPRINTS REMAIN IN THE CLAY. THEY GIVE THE CAMERAS THEIR PERSONALITY AND CONNECTS THEM TO A THOUSAND YEAR HISTORY OF HAND-MADE CERAMIC OBJECTS.

PROFOUND PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS ARE CONTAINED WITHIN EACH ARTWORK. CONSTABLE HIMSELF IS LEGALLY BLIND, MEANING THAT HIS EYES DO NOT PROVIDE HIM WITH ADEQUATE SIGHT. SIMILARLY, THE FUNCTION OF THESE CAMERAS IS NOT PHOTOGRAPHIC. IF THEY DO NOT SEE THE WORLD, DO THEY ASK THEIR AUDIENCE TO CONSIDER PERCEPTION WITHOUT VISION? OR SIMPLY THROUGH TOUCH? CONSTABLE DOES NOT SAY.

CONSTABLE HAS BEEN BASED AT THE ARTS PROJECT AUSTRALIA STUDIO IN MELBOURNE FOR 25 YEARS. THROUGH THEIR ADVOCACY, HIS WORK IS NOW IN SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA).