RICH WHITE | SCULPTURE | Counterwork.co.uk (cc) by-nc-sa 2024

Information

Counterwork.co.uk is the website of sculptor Rich White. The title comes from a 1998 work Counterwork.
It was first launched in early 2001.

Rich is a member of Axisweb, a-n's Artists' Interaction and Representation and a Spike Island Associate.

All text and images, unless otherwise stated, are property of Rich White 2024

Statement

Rich White makes installation works about location, sense of place and the relationships that develop between people and their environment.

Key aspects of his practice are resonance and discovery. Works are informed by research of the locality, dictated by architecture and space, and through the uncovering of stories of identity, memory, place and history. These findings provide context, with the form and narrative of the work resonating with the location and the viewer. The work also provides a sense of discovery; the installations are immersive and interactive, inviting the viewer to explore, travel, climb and reposition themselves in order to fully engage with the work.

The forms the works take are often unknown at inception; beginning on site and organically shaped by the limitations of space, material and self-imposed restrictions. White challenges himself to pragmatically develop and craft new techniques and methods as the work progresses; drawing on familiar patterns, local history and material connections. Risk-taking and coincidence play a creative role in his practice; chance encounters with places, people or materials inform the work in its scope and development, creating sculpture that responds to the varied perspectives people have of their locations and the events that shape them.

'Rich has a gentle and steady energy which wins the trust of those around him. He can therefore engage with a range of people in order to consult with them. His thoughtful approach results in work that is quirky, but clearly rooted in the area in which he is working.'
Helga Henry, Director, Creative SHIFT

More testimonials...

CV

CV PDF (29KB)
Portfolio + CV PDF (1.9MB)

Print Quality Images
Deep Throat, 2013
Observatory, 2012
The Public Inquiry, 2012
Nest, 2011
Platform 4, 2011
Collusion (with Brychan Tudor), 2010
Survivalist, 2008

Employment Possibilities
Full list of skills and services

All Change at COUNTERWORK.CO.UK

I don’t know about you but I found the pandemic and the lockdowns to be a time of very little creativity.

Having all of that spare time was a boon for a lot of people - giving them the time to do all of those things they didn’t have time to do before. I, personally, found that the level of uncertainty: about jobs, income, the virus itself and how it was handled, just stopped me from being able to think about making any work.

The time has not been totally devoid of creativity.

I got a couple of projects over that period (Observatories and Guidepost, both for the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust) but I was only able to do these because, as with most of my work, I was given a brief and a set of parameters.

I also spent a lot of time getting moderately more serious about making music. I’ve been writing and recording songs in various guises since the 90s, but it took the pandemic for me to actually take the time to write, record and put together a small collection of songs under the name Engine of Growth and actually release them into the wild. You can listen, and buy if you want, at Bandcamp.

Now we’ve emerged from the pandemic (even though it’s not entirely gone away) and places have opened up again, I feel it’s time to take stock of where I am. I’ve been applying for projects (as opportunities are starting to appear again), and I’ve given this website a little make-over. I’ve been thinking a lot about what kind of work I should make if I were setting projects for myself.

I feel like I need to get stuck back in to making things again.

Diary

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