Brief Statement and Biography:

I have made sculpture since my teens in the garage at home, and paintings as an adult, but I did not exhibit until 2012 after a career as a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS. 

Another formative experience came shortly after I qualified, as a volunteer for the BBC series Living in the Past (1976-7) in which a group of us were isolated for a year from modern society, living as far as possible the life of Iron Age farmers. Amongst other things I learnt to make and fire pots and cast bronze using prehistoric methods.

My sculptures are often about human nature in one aspect or another. I find inspiration from many sources such as British prehistoric heads, African carvings, Hellenic and Renaissance marbles, the great Modernist sculptors, and natural structures and textures. But I am still inevitably a contemporary artist making sculptures in my own way in response to current issues.

I enjoy experimenting with materials and methods and I use ceramic, bronze, marble, wood and resin most often.

I have held many solo exhibitions, joint shows with my wife Deirdre who is a painter, shown with the Cotswold Sculptors Association (I was a founder member of the committee), at 44AD gallery in Bath (where I am an Associate Artist), in open exhibitions and many other venues in the South West. I won the sculpture prize in 2018 at the Bath Society of Artists Annual Open. I accept commissions, and teach occasionally on request.

Highlights

My first solo exhibition ‘25 Sculptures’ was in Spring 2015. A second landmark exhibition ‘Elphick and Elphick‘, with my wife Deirdre’s paintings in 2017 was similarly successful, and we exhibited again together at the Bristol Guild in 2019 (Elphick and Elphick Unlimited). My solo show ‘Ambition and the Transitional Objects‘ in 2021 was a turning point, triggered by the pandemic. The Transitional Objects are groups or families of six small ceramic sculptures, wood fired in my garden, all unique. The latest joint exhibition with Deirdre was in 2022: ‘Colour and Form‘.

In 2018 I won the sculpture prize at the Bath Society of Artists open exhibition for a bronze abstract sculpture called ‘Wind and Sea’

Four responses to calls for public artwork have been a particular success:

‘16 Million‘ has now been displayed in many venues including libraries, galleries and schools.

‘The Casting Out‘ was also a great (and rather unexpected) public success, having been on display as planned at the 44AD gallery, and then by request at Magdalen Chapel, The Royal United Hospital and then at Bath Abbey.

‘Templates of the Brain‘ was made for an exhibition initiated by Bath University Psychology Dept. It represents several ways of viewing the mind and brain, and the confusions between them.

‘The Commondance‘ was voted the most popular entry for an exhibition called ‘Communication and the Commonwealth’ in March 2020.

I welcome opportunities for commissioned or public projects. Please get in touch by email. I will carry out a site visit, discuss your ideas, and make up some models or sketches without obligation.

Contact: martinelphick1@icloud.com

 

 

EXHIBITIONS:

2013

– Bath Society of Artists (annual exhibition – selected)

-Five and Friends Arts Weekend, Wiltshire*.

2014

– The Naked Truth, Bath Artists Studios.

– N Wraxall WW1 Commemoration, Wiltshire*.

– WW1 Commemoration, Bath Central Library*.

-Summer Show, 44AD Bath.

-Chippenham Central Library*.

-Swindon Central Library*.

-Bradford-on-Avon Arts Festival*.

-Wedmore WW1 Event, Somerset*.

-Deck The Walls, 44AD Bath.

2015

’25 Sculptures’ 44AD Gallery, Bath (solo exhibition)

– Bath Society of Artists ( annual open exhibition – selected).

-Bath Open Art Show (shortlisted for prize).

-Prince’s Trust Art Auction (requested donation).

-The Darkness and the Thunder and the Rain, Bath Royal Literary and Science Institute*.

-Christmas Show, 44AD Bath.

2016

– The Waiting Room (exhibition by associate artists from 44AD Bath with Bath University).

– Bare Facts (exhibition by Bath Artists Studios)

-Bath Society of Artists Summer Exhibition (selected, shortlisted for membership)

-Alleyn’s School, Dulwich*

– Three (with Liza Saunders and Deirdre Elphick)

– Find Another Bath (Book and Exhibition)

– Mary Magdalen Chapel, Holloway, Bath. St John’s Hospital Foundation. (‘The Casting Out‘)

2017

– Royal United Hospitals, Bath (‘The Casting Out‘, part of ‘Find another Bath’ exhibition)

– Elphick and Elphick (with Deirdre Elphick) 44AD Gallery.

– Bath Abbey (The Casting Out)

– Mells Festival (exhibition Memories)

-Prince’s Trust Art Auction (requested donation)

2018

– 44AD exhibition Genetics v The People

– BRLSI Member’s Annual Art Exhibition

– Bath Society of Artists 113th Annual Open Exhibition: Winner of the David Simon  Contemporary Prize for Sculpture.

– Cotswold Sculpture Park (formerly Elementals)

– Bath Artists Studios sculpture exhibition

– Creating Spaces ( Cotswold Sculptors Association, Uley)

– David Simon Contemporary Gallery.

– Bath Abbey*

– Alter Ego, 44AD Artspace, Bath

– Corsham Pound Open Arts Exhibition

2019

Creating Spaces 2 (Cotswold Sculptors Association at Malmesbury Abbey Gardens),

Elphick and Elphick Unlimited – Bristol Guild.

Five Fringe Fest.

The Pound Arts Open Exhibition.

2020

‘Communication and the Commonwealth‘ – Winner of the ‘Visitors Vote’ for the most popular artwork.

Creating Spaces 3 (Cotswold Sculptors Association at Malmesbury Abbey Gardens)

National Trust, Newark Park, Gloucestershire.

2021

‘Ambition and the Transitional Objects‘ – Solo exhibition and book launch.

Creating Spaces 4 & 5 (CSA at Malmesbury Abbey Gardens, and at Berkeley Castle)

2022

‘Colour and Form‘ (with Deirdre Elphick) at 44AD Gallery.

Creating Spaces 6 (CSA at Miserden Gardens)

‘Fossil’ 44AD Gallery

2023

The Corsham Gallery, Corsham. (as guest artist)

Royal Commonwealth Society Prizewinners Exhibition (44AD)

‘Touch-Space – The Tactile Imagination in Contemporary Sculpture’. Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (Talk on touch perception).

‘Creating Spaces‘ (CSA at Miserden Gardens)

Gallery 56, Corsham. Invited artists summer exhibition.

2024

‘Moon-gazers and Star-finders‘ 44AD Gallery, Bath.

The Solid and the Fragile Joint exhibition with the Bath Hub of the CSA

The Elphicks at No 19. Joint exhibition with Deirdre Elphick.

2025

Heads and Other Vessels. Solo exhibition at 44AD

 

 

* exhibition of ’16 Million’ at the above venues.

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