Jumblehumbler

About

Darren Neave - Jumblehumbler 

co-curated with Danielle Stubbs

I work between London and Lincolnshire, moving between the capital and the countryside allows me to harness the extremes and the paradoxes that appear in my work - the fast and the slow, the noisy and the quiet, the smooth and the rough. 

I describe myself as a ‘sculptor of sorts’, I like to print and I make short films as well, which all feed into the sculptural process. I also consider ‘shopping’ (actively seeking for objects, products and materials) as part of my practice too, tracking down or hunting for specific items I may need or be useful within a piece of work, which also links into re-use, recycling and re-purposing as a method of making. This could be linked with soft-environmentalism, finding ways to utilise unloved and forgotten objects.

My parents collected plates and cruet sets; they were arranged and displayed all over the house like an inside-out ceramic exoskeleton. After they both died, I decided not to simply dispose of these items, very few had monetary value but there was a sort of connection and this needed further exploration.

As a researcher, I acknowledge lots of different issues, constantly finding ways to mix and unravel ideas. Twisting with personal obsessions, fetishes, compulsive collecting and ways of arranging acquisitions. The ways in which I make can be transforming, I embellish and ameliorate everyday objects and making them more intriguing. These concerns come from my previous career as a visual merchandiser, which employs display and presentation as key components. 

Consumerism disgusts and delights me! 

I see this show as a presentation of a clarification of a cluttered mind and a tangled practice, one which plays on your senses too, using scented and flavoured materials to enhance and distort your experience. Smells and tastes have formed part of my more recent practice, which acknowledges Marcel Proust and Louise Bourgeois. 

The work is mischievous, often ludicrous and brash, with lashings of sentimentality and sincerity. 

Not everything is immediately apparent, objects with slight deviations need a second glance or a second sniff…. 

www.darrenneave.com

instagram @thehazmatguy

I am a recent MRes graduate from the Royal College of Art in London, I have also studied at the University of Lincoln and Bretton Hall College, Leeds University.  

All the pieces in the show are from 2018 - 2021 and some made within the lockdown period. 

I am commencing a PhD at Leeds Beckett University in February 2022