WILLIAM CANNINGS

ARTIST STATEMENT

It is through the pursuit of making that I define myself,I use process to connect with ideas and concepts.

  I am lured to the visceral quality of inflated objects: the look, feel and smell. I remember as a child bouncing on a ‘space-hopper’, a day-glow orange toy with the fresh scent of rubber and vinyl. Inflatable objects have exposed me to new kinds of experiences, from playthings to architectural structures. I enjoy the interaction of squeezing, pushing, pulling and being absorbed. It permits a tangible, physical awareness of self and environment. Lying on an inflated mattress, one sinks into and becomes surrounded by the air. Inflated objects have become a symbol of our popular culture: cheap, disposable, fun and whimsical, sometimes frivolous and distasteful.

  I am now researching the effects of inflation on more permanent materials such as aluminum and steel. I am imitating the visual qualities of rubber and fabric, materials more associated with the process of inflating. This play on our senses is one I find worth researching and exposing.

Flat metal patterns are seam welded with tailored precision and inflated like rubber tires. There is a dynamic and fresh change from two-dimensional pattern to three-dimensional form. The hard permanence of metal is transformed. By addressing the surface, (chrome plating, hand rubbed lacquer, automotive paints, powder coating, graphite) subtleties with in the form are made more apparent. Surfaces that are polished and chromed reflect their environment and also represent a place of dreams and distortions.  Audience, object and environment work together. I want to achieve surprise and an immediate reaction to the inflated forms from an assumed perspective

 – a dissemblance. This becomes a way of playing with a traditional formal approach of looking and judging.