After wasting rather too many years in a metalwork factory, Stephen Coley went to study Fine Art at Derby University. He left in 2001 and co-founded the visual arts organisation Artblock. For the last 9 years, he has been working as a freelance artist, creating and exhibiting his artwork, undertaking commissions and delivering workshops at schools and colleges.

I first met Stephen Coley during an exhibition in Derby as part of the art in empty shops scheme. At the time, he was experimenting with collages but he also works with three-dimensional forms.

[Show as slideshow]

Brass with Mung Beans

Hispaniola

Cygnus

Miss Medium

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Do you have any tips for aspiring artists (any mistakes, experiences you’ve had good or bad)?
Force yourself to make the work (and lots of it) even if you’ve hit that writer’s block. It’s so easy to sit back and wait for the creative juices to start flowing again, when in reality the easiest way is to MAKE them flow.

What inspires you?
Anything and everything; from music, films, human beings, Mother Nature and other people’s art.

What are the themes and ideas behind your work?
Whether I’m creating sculpture or two-dimensional pieces, I like the work to ‘evolve’ without too much prior thought. I will make certain decisions about what materials to use for my sculptural pieces or what source materials I will use for my mixed media collage work, but generally I will treat every piece as an experiment. Some ‘experiments’ will obviously work better than others. It’s just the way I like to work. I’d rather spend time thinking about the work after I’ve made it, rather than before.

As for specific themes, my sculptural work derives from an interest in flowing ephemeral organic/natural forms, but are constructed from metals and plastics, using precise mathematics. I will often contrast the hard and rigid metals by also using seeds, grains and fabrics in the work. With my mixed media collage work I try to create dreamlike environments, often using very conflicting images and text.

How do you feel about exhibiting your work and how do you prepare yourself for it?
Exhibiting my artwork, I feel, is a vital part in the work’s lifecycle. My art is primarily made because I want to make it, but it also needs to be shared. I’ve always found other people’s interpretations of my work a lot more interesting than my own!

How has your work changed over time? Has there been a shift in ideas?
Not massively, although I am a little less precious about everything I make now.

Do you sell any of your work?
Yes, but as with most artists I’m guessing, not as often as I’d like!

Have you exhibited your work regularly?
Yes, but again I really should pursue this side of things a little more than I do.

How do you promote your work? Do you think you could do more?
Thanks to the modern joys of blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the Internet in general, I do promote myself a hell of a lot more than I ever used to

Do you have any favourite artists?
An eclectic mix… Richard Deacon, Cathy de Monchaux, Andy Goldsworthy, Naum Gabo, Salvador Dali and most things Pre-Raphaelite.

What materials do you use and why?
I am rather fascinated/fixated with the use of materials, so will think long and hard about what I use and which particular combination of materials I’ll use. As I’ve already mentioned, with my sculptures I will use copper, brass, steel or plastic, combined with seeds, grains, powders and fabrics. For my collage work, I will use specific magazines and newspapers (National Geographic, Sunday newspapers and supplements, and fashion magazines), old photographs, tissue paper and will combine this with ink drawings and colour washes.

When did you last go to an art exhibition? What was it and why did you go?
Too long ago! I went to the Teatre-Museu Dali in Spain last year. We were in the area and it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to see.

Copyright
All images of Stephen Coley’s work are copyright Stephen Coley and have been included here with his permission.

Wanted: Fine Artists
Calling all artists. Want to showcase and promote your art and share your experiences with the world? It is totally free to do so. Drop me a line at talk[at]dianeashmore[dot]com or leave a comment below.