Richard Deacon Tread

The polygonal shapes are accentuated by prominently coloured rims, rendered in contrasting hues. ‘They are rather succulent as objects,’ says the artist. ‘A lot of the ceramics I’ve made haven’t been quite so delicious, as it were, so sweet.’

Under The Weather #3 constitutes a precisely engineered, intricate construction, characterised by its twisting and sensuous composition. Seeming at once fixed and fluid, the complex shape created by steamed wood components explores the physical qualities of the material, testing out the potential forms that can be achieved through the act of fabrication.

The effect of the surface is of vital importance to the work and the holes created by screws have been fitted with wooden pins, achieving the effect of patterns of tiny circles that interrupt the effect of the wood’s natural grain. ‘Gradually the surface has become important and I have come to think that it should be unbroken, not that I want the trace of work done removed, but rather that it all happens on the surface,’ says the artist.

A group of small-scale stainless steel works from Deacon’s Tread series are distributed rhythmically around the gallery space. Consisting of round, organic shapes, featuring a distinctive wave-shaped surface, the works are characterised by both their soft curves and their sharp cut edges, which, together with the highly polished surface, gives the works a workable, almost malleable quality. ‘The works have this rocking relationship to the ground’ explains the artist. ‘I got very interested in the way that these objects sat on the ground.’ Typical of Deacon's enigmatic titles, Tread can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Often playful, deliberately ambiguous or strikingly associative, they are nevertheless never intended as descriptions or explanations.