Ed Willis
I have no formal training in art, although my father was a painter who also taught fine art. Instead, I have a degree in philosophy from Bristol University.
I have always been interested in painting and drawing and began making simple mobiles as nursery decorations following the birth of my first son in 1997. I became interested in the more sophisticated sculptural possibilities of the form after seeing the work of Alexander Calder.
I draw a lot of my inspiration from animal and plant forms. The work is often suggestive of skeletal structures, usually in the abstract, though sometimes more clearly resembling particular plants or creatures. I often think of my sculptures as “suspended animations” lying at rest, waiting for a passing breeze to breathe life into them.
The sculptures are intended to be enjoyed both as elegant, striking forms and as objects for contemplation and meditation. Whilst each sculpture outwardly appears to express a settled tranquillity, it actually relies for its existence on the internal tensions resulting from the pull of one part against every other. Thus, the whole is comprised of individual elements that work in collaboration to produce a system in a kind of dynamic equilibrium.
Selected Group Exhibitions
March 2020
Contemporary Art Fair , Sandown
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, with White Space Art
David Simon Contemporary, Castle Cary
Nov 2019
Contemporary Art Fair, Windsor
Foss Fine Art, South London, Christmas Show
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Winter show
July 2019
White Space Art, Totnes, Summer Show
Robert Fogell Gallery, Stamford, Summer Show
June 2019
Serena Hall Gallery, Southwold
Dancing Light Gallery, nr. Edinburgh
May 2019
Contemporary Art Fair, Newbury
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition
Cotswold Sculpture Park, Cirencester
April 2019
Delamore Arts 2019, Devon
Blackwater Gallery, Cardiff
March 2019
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, with White Space Art
February 2019
David Simon Contemporary, Bath
November 2018
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Winter Exhibition
June 2018
Celebrating Art in the Garden, Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire
May 2018
Haymakers Gallery, Hay-on-Wye
April 2018
Fresh: Art Fair, Cheltenham, with White Space Art
March 2018
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition
March 2018
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea. with White Space Art
December 2017
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Christmas exhibition
November 2017
Robert Fogell Gallery, Stamford, Christmas exhibition
July 2017
Serena Hall Gallery, Southwold
June 2017
David Simon Contemporary, Bath
May 2017
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition
March 2017
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea. White Space Art stand.
October 2016
44AD, Bath, joint show
August 2016
Robert Fogell Gallery, Stamford. 10th anniversary show
April 2016
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition
Feb. 2016
Dancing Light Gallery, Edinburgh
Nov. 2015
Oil and Water Gallery, London, Featured Artist
Oct. 2015
Artery Gallery, St Andrews
Sept. 2015
Affordable Art Fair, Bristol. White Space Art stand
May 2015
Participation in “Art In and Out of the Garden”, Cambridge
May 2015
Bath Society of Artists, Open Exhibition
March 2015
Serena Hall Gallery, Southwold
Large Commissions
Oct 2000
Holmes Place Health Club, Kensington – 2 mobiles for bar area
June 2005
St. George’s Hospital, London – mobile for Children’s waiting room and for Reception area of Atkinson Morley wing.
Press
Recently appeared in World of Interiors Magazine