Publicly Funded Minerals

From Amazonite to Zircon, this series of 48 images on paper uses collage to (re)imagine crystals, minerals and gemstones as public sculpture. The elemental materials appear in their natural state; placed into a landscape, atop a landmark spire or on a Billboard. Resembling design planning mock-ups, each collage is brought together in consideration of light and shadow, colour and scale in a playful manner. They are arranged within a framework grid of ‘shelves’ made from red and white stripes, which mimic photographic scales used to indicate sizes and distances in images, and sit alongside additional and leftover materials.

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This is exhibition is part of Index Festival and Yorkshire Sculpture international. It is also the first exhibition to be held in the newly refurbished bar at Assembly House. It will be a long term show and is available to view on it's opening night and then by appointment or alongside other events in the project space.

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About the artist:

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Karl Russell Vickers was born in Sunny Blackpool in 1988. He currently lives in Leeds and works in Wakefield. Co-founder and studio holder at Serf, Leeds. Vickers works across collage, found imagery and sculpture. His recent exhibitions include Spike Island (Test Space), Newcastle University and Turf Projects.

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"I’m trying to remember the first image I found which started the ‘I’ll never EVER cut or glue this image’ stack - but who knows. An archive was born.

A major part of the collage process involves the searching, collecting and condensing of source material, with my focus on collecting rather than just cutting and gluing... Imagine a big pot which boils down to the good stuff.

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I avoided crystals and minerals for a long time in my practice, ignoring their presence as potentially powerful images. Tastes change with my collections and so a group of minerals formed without my consent, based entirely on their sculptural qualities."

- Karl Vickers.