A conversation between two Englishmen: Anthony Heywood & Mark Hosking

My work focuses on the effects of the earth’s climate change and its natural resources. I am also aware of the demographic pressures and mass migration which consolidates my thinking about socio/politic issues embedded in my works. It is to bring about social and environmental change as these are all concerns held within my practice which I embrace through my deployment of subject, context and materiality. Materiality sometimes evokes censure, but it is sometimes a celebration, in other words, the use of materials makes the viewer consider and re-align its suitability of purpose and above all its worth. My works admit to the fascination of material objects but they ask us to question the depth and consistency of our values. I have recently been invited by SBK galleries in Amsterdam to create an exhibition. It is the innovation of creating a relationship between artist, gallery and audience that is most exciting about SBK as the founder Pieter Kooistra introduced ‘art to the people’ by setting up a not for profit organisation which enables all levels of public to borrow and purchase art. This concept is still present today in the gallery and its position in contemporary practice. A primary aim in my ‘classical building series’ is to consider how our atmosphere is changing and evaluate how everything in the built environment is affected by and changed by both time and changes to our air, my proposal investigates 'climate change', I intend to create works which respond to the current question on how our vital earth’s resources can be upcycled into and within the sculptural context. My sculptures each seek to deal with particular issues which will inform notions of value within the broader sculptural context. It is through the juxtaposition of image and material which informs and empowers what we see in the sculptures. It will make us re-evaluate and dare to reject complacency. The research is intended to evaluate how society's development has consequences and every action creates a cause and effect' for example, acid rain, the ivory trade. My concept of using iconic buildings imbued with civic virtue and transforming it into mixed media is a direct reference to how the ‘ power of the state’ and the buildings which represent the political and economic structure have been eroded away by time and our changing atmosphere. The buildings symbolise all the historical values, individualism and belief, it symbolises longevity of civilisation, learning power and influence. The idea of me creating a sculpture in upcycled mixed media and building materials is on one level a quixotic notion, heightened by the immense number of technical problems it would create. The challenge is not only the rendering of the ephemeral into the massively durable, but the jolting of the senses into recognition of changed values of waste, worthlessness and the passage of time. It is this juxtaposition of image and material which informs our understanding of how the borders of power have changed through time and evolution of civilisation. The purpose of the work is to transform a classical icon, to challenge the perception of audience values by articulating through the medium of clay, paints glues, papers and cardboard and varnishes and subverting traditional methods of making, therefore all of the pomp and intrinsic values of the original work are offered a space in our contemporary thinking