ARTIST PHILOSOPHY
Every object carries a history.
A weathered tool, a fragment of machinery, a worn piece of timber or a forgotten keepsake has already lived one life before it reaches my studio. Rather than seeing these objects for what they once were, I am drawn to what they might become. My practice is driven by the belief that transformation reveals possibility, and that the overlooked, discarded and forgotten still have stories waiting to be told.
Working primarily in assemblage sculpture, I combine reclaimed materials, vintage artefacts and found objects into carefully constructed works that exist somewhere between reality and imagination. Each component retains traces of its previous life - its wear, patina and imperfections becoming an essential part of the narrative rather than something to disguise. I am less interested in restoring objects than in extending their story, allowing past and present to coexist within a new form.
Although my work spans a wide range of subjects - from imagined robotic characters and hybrid life forms to mythology, memory and the natural world - each series explores a common idea: transformation. Whether reinterpreting ancient myths, reflecting on personal experiences, celebrating optimism, or imagining speculative futures, my sculptures ask viewers to reconsider the familiar and discover meaning where it might otherwise be overlooked.
Narrative lies at the heart of my practice. I see every reclaimed object as a fragment of a larger story, carrying evidence of the hands that made it, the lives that used it and the time it has endured. By bringing these fragments together, I create assemblages that invite curiosity and reward close observation. Humour, symbolism and nostalgia often provide an accessible point of entry, while deeper themes of identity, resilience, memory and the human condition emerge through careful looking.
My work is also an exploration of craftsmanship. Every sculpture is assembled through an intuitive process of collecting, arranging and refining, allowing unexpected relationships to develop between materials that were never intended to coexist. It is through this process that discarded objects lose neither their identity nor their history; instead, they gain a new context and a renewed purpose.
Ultimately, my practice is about possibility. It is an optimistic belief that value can be rediscovered, that broken or forgotten things can be transformed, and that beauty often resides in the unexpected. Through assemblage, I seek to create works that encourage viewers to pause, look more closely, and imagine what else might be hidden within the ordinary.
Every sculpture begins with objects that have already lived one life. My role is simply to help them tell the next chapter.
Saxon Reynolds
