Wayne Chisnall

Wayne Chisnall


About

I was born in Shropshire, England. Before I moved to London in 1999 I had been a technical illustrator for a Japanese company, a magazine illustrator, studied printmaking at Bourneville and then took up sculpting during my time studying fine art at Northampton University.

In November 2005 I was awarded a bursary from the Royal British Society of Sculptors (RBS) and exhibited in the Bursary Show at their gallery in South Kensington.

In 2008 John Malkovich chose my script as one of the winning entries in the Sony VAIO Scriptwriting competition. My script, along with John Malkovich's and two others was then turned into an animation. All updates from my blog also feature on the Sony website, under the VAIO Heroes section.

Four of my sculptures (including the large green model kit piece, 'And When I'm a Man') are featured in the new film, 'Scratch', directed by Jakob Rørvik.

I also run the occassional school or corporate sculpture work shop. A recent one was for the employees of ING Bank, at their London Wall head office.



Statement

Much of Chisnall’s work centers on the theme of memory and its fallibility. This is more strongly evident in his pieces that incorporate or recreate childhood artifacts and toys. A prime example of this is ‘And When I’m a Man’, the life size sculpture of himself as a twelve piece, pre-assembly, model kit. An important aspect of the piece is its bright green colour, which was chosen to match the artist’s memory of that of a childhood toy – realizing that the memory would have mutated and exaggerating the luridness of it.

Another re-occurring theme or motif in his work is that of the wheeled box or tower. These constructions represent his preoccupation with containment, the urge to possess and the restricted mobility that attachment to possessions brings.

The majority of Chisnall’s later sculptural work involves the reworking and assemblage of found objects/materials - materials that he feels have a certain ‘resonance’. The artist’s ‘Nail Box’ sculpture embodies this notion and acknowledges the Nkisi (spiritually charged totems, carved by the people of the Congo – and often covered in nails and other sharp metal implements) as its main influence. The sculpture is a box, constructed from bits of old wood, on wheels and is covered in thousands of rusty nails and screws that the artist collected over a four year period from his travels around London, the UK, Europe, Asia and the Americas. The artist’s intention with this piece is that each nails’ individual history and interactions with their various original environments should produce a magnified collective resonance that permeates the work.

Although not a film maker himself, Chisnall’s work is heavily influenced by his early passion for film and animation. This is evident in his arcane-looking tower sculpture, ‘The City,’ which echoes the same fairy tale or dream-like quality that is characteristic of the short films of animators such as the Brothers Quay and Jan Švankmajer.

“Chisnall’s towering wooden piece is made up of tiny display cases and cabinets made from found materials like skulls, insects and fossils, a kind of modern cabinet of curiosities. Or a nightmarish vision inspired by Jorge Luis Borges. He explains that much like the inhabitants of a big city, each compartmentalised environment plays out its own narrative, seemingly oblivious to that of its neighbour”. Julia Kollewe (journalist – The Guardian and The Independent).


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Education
Group Exhibitions (* outside London and UK)

2011
‘Sketchbook Project’*, Art House Co-op, touring USA.
'States of Reverie', Scream, Mayfair.
2010
'Melt Art Fair', Art Pavilion, Mile End Park.
'KETOS 2.1 (Whaleless)'*, The Civic Aquarium, Milan, Italy.
'RCA Secret 2010', Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.
‘Found – 18@108’, Royal British Society of Sculptors.
'The Great Exhibition', White Mischief, Scala.
2009
‘Botanists of the Asphalt’, The Camp, City Road, curated by Stephanie Pochet.
‘The Grand Plasto-Baader-Books’, Kaleid Editions, Redchurch St.
'Tate The Biscuit', Shoreditch Town Hall.
‘Park Art Fair International © Geneva 2009’*, Geneva.
'RCA Secret 2009', Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.
'KETOS 2.0'* Reggio Emilia’s Civic Museum, Italy,
'The Brain Unravelled', Slade Research Centre,
’The Big Draw - the Travelling Moleskine’*, mail art project.
'Summer Show' & 'Art Fair', Candid Arts,
'Vamalgam 4', Victoria & Albert Museum,
'Writing On Walls' (Ctrl+Alt+Shift), South Bank Centre.
'Friday Late View (carnival cut-outs)', V&A Museum.
'Crossroads', London Business School.
'Edition/Power in Numbers', Bodhi Art Gallery, Brick Lane.
'Whaless'*, Strychnin Gallery, Berlin.
'Affluenza', St. John St. Clerkenwell.
2008
'Chiaroscuro', Pharos Gallery, Ada Street.
'Vamalgam 3', Victoria & Albert Museum.
'RCA Secret 2008', Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.
'Whaleless', Strychnin Gallery.
'A Gothic Story', Shoreditch Town Hall.
'Group show', The Jago, Shoreditch.
'In The Absence Of Colour', Strychnin Gallery.
'Battersea Contemporary Art Fair', Battersea Arts Centre.
'Battersea Affordable Art Fair', Battersea Park.
2007
'Xmas Show' - My Life In Art, London Fields.
'Mapping'* - Bury Museum and Art Gallery, Lancs.
'RCA Secret 2007', Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore.
'Mixed Blessings' - F-art, off Brick Lane, Bethnal Green.
2006
'RBS Contemporary Sculpture Show' - Rollo Gallery, Islington.
'Human Technology' (ndn) - The Synergy Centre.
2005
'Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Award 2005' - RBS Gallery, South Kensington.
'An Open Book'* - Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham.
2004
'Draw-Drawing-' - The Brazilian Embassy Gallery.
'RCA Secret' - Royal College of Art Gallery.
'E=mc2' - The Institute of Physics.
'Spirituality & Morality in the 21st Century' (ndn) - Rudolf Steiner House, Marylebone.
'Sex, Dolls & Crab Claws' - The Foundry, Shoreditch.
'Islington Contemporary Art & Design Fair' - Candid Arts Trust Gallery.
2003
'The Meet' - The Media Centre, Soho.
'Foad Glorious Foad' - Wilson Hall, Camberwell Art College.
'RCA Secret' - Royal College of Art.
'Q2' - Candid Arts Trust Gallery.
2002
'Vamalgam 2' - Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington.
'RCA Secret' - Royal College of Art.
'By Misadventure' (FOAD) - Century Gallery.
'Hang 10' - Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington.
2001
'Network AD' - Candid Art Trust Gallery, Islington.
'Vamalgam' - Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington.
2000
'The Containment of Memory' - Lewisham Library Gallery.



Bibliography (*Reviews)

Interview, ‘Wayne Chisnall Interview’ by Helen Wilson, Where Art You, Feb 2011.
http://whereartyou.co.uk/wayne-chisnall-interview/

Interview, ‘Wayne Chisnall answers FAD’, FAD Website, Dec 2010. www.fadwebsite.com/2010/12/16/wayne-chisnall-answers-fads-questions-2/

Mark Sheerin, “Whitechapel, Vyner Street, Hoxton, Shoreditch? Exploring London's East End Art Scene,” Culture 24 (one of the Guardian’s top 100 websites), 15 January 2010.
http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art75023

Interviewed for, and work is featured in, an on-line video by Lukasz Cholewiak, “Botanists of the Asphalt”, March 2010.
http://vimeo.com/10060567

Interview, ‘Connect’, Northampton University Alumni Magazine, 2010.

Work featured and mentioned in “North London Arts Charity Celebrates 20 Years,” Art of England (issue 63), 2009.
*Julia Kollewe, “The City Arts & Music Project makes its debut on the London art scene,” t5m comment, 7 December 2009
http://www.t5m.com/julia-kollewe/the-city-arts-music-project-makes-its-debut-on-the-london-art-scene.html?fmt=news

Artwork featured on Channel 4 News (to illustrate ‘the Nest’, the award winning project for Northern Ireland) as part of 2012 ‘Artist Take the Lead’, Olympiad Award. November 2009.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=45943836001

Work (showing in KETOS 2.0) featured and mentioned in an Italian magazine, “Salvate le baleen,” November 2008.

Work featured in the ‘Hero’ edition of A5 Magazine (art magazine from Israeli), 2009. www.thea5magazine.com

Work featured in FEFE Magazine (centre spread, pages 68-69 and page 98), editor/art director, Luigi Vernieri, November 2008. www.fefeproject.com

Interviewed by Mark Westal for FAD website, 2007,
http://www.fadwebsite.com/2007/02/19/wayne-chisnal-answers-fad-questions/

Interviewed by art historian, Dr. Emmanuel Minne as part of the ‘Memories’ video interview project, for the Royal British Society of Sculptors archive.




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Friends

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  • James R Ford
  • Michael Xuereb
  • Revinder Chahal
  • Lee Madgwick

Swirly Skulls on Pink

Printmaking

Wayne Chisnall
United Kingdom
Edition $150

Spidey Pods

Printmaking

Wayne Chisnall
United Kingdom
Edition $240

Planetoid 210

Sculpture

Wayne Chisnall
United Kingdom
Orifice Tower
Nail Heart
And When I'm a Man (I'll Think As a Man) - SOLD
Swirly Skulls
Me and the Frankenstein's Orifice Box
Frankenstein's Orifice Box
Book Tower II

Events & Exhibitions

Events

Here's the link to my interview (Wayne's World - a Unique Insight into one of Britain's 'Trashiest Artists')on the Nokia Connects site -

http://nokiaconnects.com/2012/06/22/waynes-world-a-unique-insight-into-one-of-britains-trashiest-artists/

Exhibitions

Most Recent Exhibition:

Domus (inaugural group show)
14th-28th June 2012
50 Great Sutton St
Clerkenwell
London EC1V 0DF
T: 020 8481 9510
http://waynechisnall.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/last-week-of-domus-show.html

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