Robert Harding

Robert Harding was born in 1954 in Southport, Lancashire. In the early 1970s he studied at Exeter College of Art & Design and University College Lancaster. His wife, Dr.Sandra Harding, is from Machen/Gwent; they have lived in Llantrisant, South Wales since 1982, where Robert has an impressive workshop-studio. He teaches at the West Wales School of the Arts in Carmarthen (part of Coleg Sir Gaer) and is a member of the 56 Group Wales.

Artist's Statement: "At art college I was taught by the Minimalist generation of artists who instilled in me a respect for the power of form, and the importance of precise detail, craft skill and clarity/simplicity. In addition, my art education coincided with the Punk and Post-Modern revolution, and I was lucky enough to be also taught by Edward Allington who showed me that art could be ironic, witty, subversive, and just plain fun.
Since leaving college, steel has been my primary sculptural material although I have also worked in glass (Arts Council of Wales grant in 1997), bronze, plastic, rope, stone etc. Steel is in my view 'the 20th century sculptural medium'; it was also an obvious choice because, when setting up my workshop, I had to choose a readily available and cheap material (scrap steel) and affordable tools (I inherited a number of my father's and grandfather's engineering tools).
I am very interested in the siting of sculpture. In the early stages of my career, I concentrated on creating large outdoor pieces for specific sites, but this is now only one aspect of my work. Increasingly I have realised the possibilities of indoor locations and the potential of small, subtle interventions outside. There are many problems in making small sculptures; in particular, they can easily be seen as models for larger pieces, and they often require cumbersome plinths to bring them near eye level, protect them or isolate them from general clutter. The use of a wall is one way of resolving these concernes but, of course, it poses others.
In making wall-mounted work, I have been keen to get away from the conventions of 'relief' - shallow depth, geometric framing, illusion and layering. Instead, I have tried to use the ubiquitous smooth white wall as a surface on which sculpture can 'float', 'bounce', 'emerge', 'cling' or 'pierce', as well as cast interesting shadows. Much of my current work is deliberately ambiguous and exhibits a sense of vulnerability, instability and fluidity, and the use of the wall can emphasise these aspects" (quoted, by kind permission of the artist, from 'Revelations: processes of making art', a book to accompany an exhibition 2000-2001).

"Much of Robert Harding's work is additive or, fundamentally. the result of collage. One of the implications of this method of work is that there are no obvious stopping points in the process; pieces of metal can be welded together to each other ad infinitum" (quoted from web site "Wales Modern Newsletter No.8", 2003).

Awards: British Council travel scholarship to Romania in 1987; Artist in Residence at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1994; Arts Council of Wales grant to experiment with glass & bronze casting in 1997; 2000 winner of the Richard&Rosemary Wakelin Purchase Award (Glynn Vivian Art Gallery); 2005 winner of the 'Welsh Artist of the Year'/Sculpture Section.

International Links:
activities abroad=1987 British Council Travel Award to Romania; 1994 Artist in Residence Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Philadelphia/USA;

collections abroad=Presidents Collection M.I.A. Baltimore/USA;

exhibitions abroad=1981 "UK Sculptour USA" touring exhib. Decker Gallery Baltimore, Museum of Art Oklahoma, United Artists gallery Albuquerque New Mexico; Laumeir International Sculpture Park St.Louis Missouri;