Duncan Cameron @ Broomhill

We have asked the artist to provide a statement about their work, an edited personal history, and a selection of exhibitions and commissions. The content here is entirely their words and selection. Works illustrated here have been chosen by the artist.

The works shown on this page are not necessarily on display at Broomhill.

The Artist Speaks

“I have been interested in natural history, and in collecting things, since I was a small child. I maintained a museum of found artifacts in my bedroom cupboard and my father still has a laboratory in our shed at home. I planned for many years to become a marine biologist and although I decided to follow a career as an artist, my formative years and my scientific interests still greatly influence the artwork that I make.

“I am fascinated with a romantic notion of adventure and exploration. In particular with the many Victorian scientists, Darwin, Wallace, Bates etc who waded through uncharted rivers and jungles, armed with leather satchels of brass instruments to discover new plants and creatures. The exploration of unknown, or little visited, parts of the planet surface can feel part of a world that no longer exists, is it all now mapped and known? Certainly this interest in exploration informs my enthusiasm for scuba diving and my fascination for shipwrecks and the sea. It also drives the ideas beneath much of my exploratory artwork involving the 'discovery' of overlooked things that lie in the streets at our feet or in the murky waters of our canals and docks. Much of my work involves a sort of scientific exploration, through collection of dead insects, using magnets to retrieve metal things from rivers and immersing items in collected seawater jam-jars, although it could be said that I pursue these activities not to further scientific knowledge but to tell stories.

“I construct cabinets, boxes, shelves and rooms that are recognisable, as 'museum-like' and familiar, yet are encountered in the street or art gallery. I use stamps, labels, collection jars and even keep records much as scientists might and yet again my interest lies not in science itself but in a romantic idea of the collection of knowledge. I am currently working on a body of work about the scientist Alfred Russel Wallace whose journeys in the Amazon in the 1850's were full of wonderful adventures and the discovery of hundreds of species of previously unrecorded plants and animals. The 'Lost Collections' work is about the tragic sinking of the ship Helen and its cargo, which included all of Wallace's collections and drawings, on the journey home from this expedition.

“I am also working on other pieces that are about loss at sea and I spend a good deal of my time collecting seawater from the coast and using it to rust and immerse found objects and also to include it in my constructions and installations. I continue to dive around the British coast, am developing my interest in underwater film-making and am currently in discussion with a publisher about writing an illustrated book about shipwrecks of the world. I lecture in art at Strode College in Somerset and live in Bristol with my family where I also have a studio at Spike Island.”

Background

Duncan lives in Bristol with his wife and two daughters, teaches at Strode college in Somerset and has a studio at Spike Island in Bristol.

Duncan has been diving for 13 years and this interest informs much of his sculptural and film work. he recently organised a residential trip for his students in New York, enjoys caving and the occasional climb, is entered for, and optimistic about, the 2004 London Marathon.

He is also currently in negotiation with a publisher about an illustrated book on shipwrecks of the world.