Born 1972, in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Lives and works in Canterbury and London, UK, and Pietrasanta, Italy.
Gray’s compositions are entities in a state of becoming. Forms transition from figuration to abstraction, travelling on the verge of recognisable shapes, while never crossing into graspable representations. Leading the use of marble down new routes, the works do not align with conventional expectations of the stone or the direction its sculptors have often ventured. Shapes and characters rise from the dense rock matter and shine in their sinuous silhouettes and fluid surfaces, eclipsing the quintessential hardness and stillness of the block. The material retains the finger-marks and touches of the initial modelling process, illuminating the trajectory the artist’s hands have carved. Sometimes impetuous and vigorous, other times delicate and smooth, Gray’s gestures are sunken in the stone, bringing it back to life with a breath of contemporary creativity. This line of investigation is the driving force behind the works that challenges the viewer to think differently in an effort to create a future that differs from the past.
Works gravitate towards themes of mythology and metamorphosis, pivoting back to the artist’s provenance and heritage. The concept of transition is personified in the character of Ceridwen, a white witch and goddess of transformation, rebirth, and inspiration who brews life-altering potions that give the ability to shape-shift and inspire knowledge and beauty in others. Gray’s characters are heightened to celestial bodies and legendary warriors, such as Manannán and Oisín, orbiting from Celtic traditions to modern spirituality, with literal representations of the luminaries, the sun and the moon, distinguishable in the metal bases supporting Ceridwen Standing and Young God Standing. Gray’s bodies are now young, sometimes anonymous divinities, and notably more elaborate configurations in these new transits. These figures present traits brimming with vulnerability and strength, anger and hope, dedication and combativeness. They champion the shifts purported by today’s youth. The viewer is in turn faced with this complexity, as they bear witness to the raw material and its sculptural transformation.
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS
