Chris Horner is a British artist who lives and works in Hampshire. He received his BA in Fine Art at the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey, UK. He also completed his MA in Fine Art at the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey in 2018.
Horner’s artwork explores the relationship between artist and material where he transforms pre used building materials into painted sculptural artworks. All of his works originate from an invented movement known as an ‘Unknown working process’, the key word in this description is ‘unknown’ as this means to not know and to animate characteristics of the unfamiliar.
When he has free time away from his studio he finds himself supporting his Father in the building trade, so many of the materials he works with come from the building site. He creates experiments by colliding pre used building materials and art supplies together as he is interested in seeing how the two react when put through an obscure process. Are they going to complement one another or counteract against each other?
The use of pre used building materials in his work is very important to him as he has transitioned from a builder into a contemporary artist. He knows how the building materials work in their usual context, but is keen to see how they can now be presented through a new guise. From experience of talking to people about the building world he has noticed that building materials are often overlooked and not appreciated for the importance they hold. He sets himself an objective to stimulate these materials by entering them into these experiments, as this enables them to express a new original excitement where their value becomes heightened through an art background.
Chris received the JPES Partnership prize at The London Group Open Exhibition in 2019 and was elected by The London Group Membership Committee to become a member in 2020, and his works have been collected in various private collections.
Self taught or art school?
My art practice has developed through a continuous programme of learning. This started at a very young age when I was at state school, at around the age of 12 or 13 I realised that I wanted to be an artist, art was always my favourite subject and one which I looked most forward too. I then followed my passion of art by studying the subject at College, and then at University where I completed my BA in Fine Art at The UCA in 2012 and an MA in Fine Art at The UCA In 2018.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
This is a very challenging question to answer as there are many artworks, which I appreciate and ones which have certainly influenced my own progression as an artist. However if I did have to choose one it would be Francis Bacon’s Three studies for Figures at the base of a Crucifixion, 1944, Oil and Pastel on Sundeala board. The reason why this is my choice is number one Bacon has always been my most favourite painter, for me has always been in a class of his own and in my opinion many artists have tried to capitalize on what he achieved but all have failed. I feel that the Crucifixion displays a grotesque horrific image which not only plays on the mind temporarily but one which remains stored in one’s mind. I had only just discovered Bacon when I first saw the Crucifixion in the flesh, but it immediately caught my attention and I was transfixed to the mutated like creatures, I remember thinking what are they or what are they trying to say?
As I got older I revisited the painting as I had gained more of an understanding about Bacon. His intelligence to construct and narrate images was incredible, and the mutated like forms represented the oppressive period, which had developed after the war. The anguish and the expressive emotion of sadness, which shone through the painting, made the viewer read into an image which would have been discarded or taken away from any source of vision. I liked (well I still like) the controversial life Francis Bacon led as an artist, and with Bacon being recognized as a rebellious character in the art-world. He certainly excites me as an artist – that he was Living on the edge, or living by chance. His style to produce imagery has influenced my own chaotic techniques / methods which I infuse within my own making.
How would you describe your style?
To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how I would describe my style of art. I don’t think you can pigeonhole my art into one particular style. I want my work to be unique, so I have created and produced techniques and styles, which have become discovered through the element of experimentation and surprise. A few years ago now, I remember watching an interview from one of my favourite vocalists – Phillip H Anselmo (Pantera, Down, SuperJoint Ritual). He was asked exactly the same question his answer stayed with me, he said: “Instead of selecting just one or two of your favourite bands to gain ideas from, work with eight or ten bands.” I carried this thought process into my own practice. I select eight or ten of my favourite artists who are influencing me at the time. I incorporate parts of their making in order to formulate a new style of constructing. Themes which I have experimented with have now become infused within my own style of working. This includes; playing with elements of chance and deliberately setting up modes of risk taking, and challenging my creativity by testing my levels of endurance. It also includes; working with known and unknown factors which share a link to the familiar and the unfamiliar, and producing works through devised systems and operations which emerge from rules, rituals, and a strong state of being obsessed.
Where are your favourite places to view art?
My favourite places to view art changes all the time it really depends on the art which is currently on at an exhibition. I also like to discover new galleries. At the end of last year I went to The Store X for the first time, which is a space that can be found at 180 The Strand. It was an exhibition presenting three large – scale installations and adapted work by a London based collective called United Visual Artists (UVA).
Who are your favourite artists and why?
There are many artists who have influenced me, but if I am thinking about my current position within my practice now I would have to say Ding Yi, Franz West and Jason Martin have been very influential. I would like to talk briefly about the Chinese artist Ding Yi, and British artist Jason Martin, and how both artists have motivated new concepts to my style of making.
Yi creates colourful geometric works, which are made through exacting processes. In my work I try to formulate and construct materials and surfaces through a similar process, as I create systems in order to express this collision between materials, elements and surface. The reason why I use a system is to identify this change. I apply paint and different waxes, in order to acknowledge this state of transformation. This process in my making is produced over countless hours, as I obsessively reconstruct this new form. The paint and waxes act as a record or a document, where I find myself archiving this new product, which is built from sculptural, painterly and drawing methods and techniques.
Martin is known for his thick textured paintings, which achieve an overall unique sculptural surface. Martin layers oil paint or acrylic gel on top of metal or Plexiglas substrate, and then drags a comb-like tool through the substance in order to create extensive layers / divisions. The similarity I share with Martin is his approach to producing process-based formalism works, and his occasional interference with chance, moments of happenstance and the unexpected appliance of chaos. I work with an invented movement known as an (Unknown working process). This is when I mix both pre-used building materials and art supplies together in order to find out what could happen. Are they going to complement one another or counter act against each other? I never know if the process will work or last, but it is this element of uncertainty which keeps me excited, and keeps the work evolving and progressing.
What or who inspires your art?
Along with different artists and art movements, which inspire my art, one of the other main attributes is the role I play as a builder/labourer in supporting my Father in the building trade. I have to balance my art practice with this job as it enables me to keep producing work, and acts as a financial supporter, which I believe for any artist is pivotal in the current climate we are all living in. I am very lucky to be able to support my Father, because it is a job which I have connected to my art practice in order to fuel and expand my style of making.
Many materials and elements which I use in my work come from the building site. I experiment with building materials like; cement, plaster, building sand, strong liquidizes etc, with art supplies; glosses, acrylics, oils, turpentine’s, etc. I don’t see myself as a builder and an artist, I see myself as someone who is submerged between the two. I like to compose both styles of making together, for example; as a builder/labourer I have to be precise and careful with my making, therefore at each stage it has to be meticulously calculated. As an artist I am much looser and freer, where chance like processes start to emerge from risk taking actions. I enjoy working in this way because it always makes for a surreal and uncanny experience.
A fantastic book titled: The Craftsmen, by Richard Sennett, supported my enquiry into incorporating this unique style of making. The book links themes and subjects, which connect to my performance of working as builder/labourer and an artist. This gives me a desire to produce good work and a strong motivation to aspire.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
Over the last four years I have worked in three separate studios, but I have now settled on one studio, which is based in Alton, Hampshire. This is only a temporary studio as I aim to locate to a new destination within the next two years, which is where I will pitch up again.
My works incorporate suggestions of chaos, free expressionism and chance, but I like to still work in a refined way, so I try and eliminate any chaos within the surroundings of my studio. My current studio is a 13ft x 13ft, white walled squared space, which has a great source of lighting, and is brilliant for working in and for taking photos of my works.
Do you have any studio rituals?
Yes, I do have studios rituals, which are carried out every day. This starts from as soon as I wake up, which is normally around 7 or 8 am. I exercise for 30 mins every morning – this is not only for physical fitness purposes but also mental ones. I like to cleanse my mind clear, so it is fresh and ready for the day of work ahead of me. After all the necessities; showering, changing into my studio clothes etc. I enter the studio where lighting goes on right away, and stays on all through the working day, which normally lasts between 9 or 10 hours. I work quite meticulously, especially when it comes to reworking on top of the surfaces of my works. I need as much light as possible as it acts as guidance for me when I start illustrating my findings.
What are you working on currently?
I am currently working on a new series of works, which have originated from similar processes and methods that I used when making works like ‘Space Of Play’ and A Form Of Preservation. I like to keep myself off balance. I do this by seeking new materials, supplies and surfaces to work with, by adding just one or two new materials or supplies puts the whole process in a state of shock. For me, the worst thing would be getting to familiar with a material or supply, where I might start to understand how the material works and functions. This is even before it is to undergo an operation. Many books which I have read, such as; Doing Time (Tehching Hsieh), by Adrian Heathfield, Time, by Amelia Groom, The Craftsman, by Richard Sennett, and Chance, by Margaret Iversen, have also supported my progression with my making.
What are your ambitions?
My ambitions are to keep learning and developing my craft. I always want the next piece I make to be visually stronger than the previous one. The journey which I am on is always full of new discoveries, whether this is in my making or becoming involved in new art collectives, organisations or communities. 2020 has already been a year full of uncertainties, difficulties, and testing times, due to the horrific pandemic we have all had to endure! I am very fortunate to be in some fantastic art Collectives, The London Group, ArtCan and The Nave, who I am entirely grateful to. The continuing support that they offer me in helps me grow as an artist. I cannot wait to start working with them all once we hit some kind of normality again.