Disparate Nature

Solo exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale

As one of nine gifted artists awarded bursaries by the Arts Council’s The Shape of Things scheme, sculptor and wall painter Taslim Martin’s new work and solo exhibition at Touchstones represents a chance to see a gifted up-and-coming craftsman at work.

For Disparate Nature, the expert carpenter has relied heavily on experimentation, using materials ranging from cast iron and steam-bent wood to plaster and clay to make historical and political references to colonialism and the slave trade.

“I am delighted to be involved in The Shape of Things and the debate surrounding it,” says Martin, calling the project an “important” and “timely” idea.

“It will enable me to create a significant body of new work which will be respond to existing works and further investigate the notion of cultural identity and the artist in my own work..”

The entire exhibition space has been given over to works including large-scale clay depictions drawn directly onto the gallery walls, iron portrait heads and pieces exploring “the sculptural potential of functional objects”.