University of Worcester   2008/2009

Adrian Shiel

The wall-mounted work is a selection from an ongoing series entitled “Findings from the Malvern Isles”. They represent an imaginative engagement with the Malvern Hills, an area and environment that is recognised as “a ritual landscape against which various religious rites were played out” and which personally provides constant inspiration.

My work is influenced by, and is an exploration of, objects suggestive of myth and ritual; particularly archaeological and ethnographic artefacts where the purpose of construction may be unknown or contested.

The majority of pieces I make include hand-crafted forms of wood, stone and, thanks to the scheme, ceramics combined with other mixed media.

I would like to express my gratitude to the staff and students who provided, along with much good and helpful advice and support, a warm welcome to the University of Worcester Art Department. I would also like to express my appreciation of the AA2A scheme and those that make it possible.

My time spent on the scheme has resulted in work which, as well as extending the range of material and techniques, has provided both new directions and a greater depth of meaning to my practice.