KEN ELLIOTT
Meet our Scene Stirling Digital Commission cohort, Ken Elliott.
Sculptor Ken Elliott, whose work has been displayed by the Engine Shed and Stirling University Art Collection, only discovered his talent two years ago. His artistic practice has quickly developed from the production of pen and ink hand-coloured drawings, to computer-controlled wood carving and metal sculpture. Ken is currently creating a series of natural world themed sculptures, one of which he plans to film in a 360-degree video as part of his commission. ⠀
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Ken said: “It is still the early day of my creative journey, having spent most of my career as an engineer. I enjoy experimenting with new techniques. My work is currently focused on exploring ways to express some of the elegant forms in the natural world using only a minimal set of curved three-dimensional shapes, hand-formed in aluminum strips using simple tools. This includes the metal strip sculpture ‘Wave’ which was on display at the University’s Pathfoot building last November.”⠀
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He added: “The Digital Commission is an exciting opportunity for me to learn and improve my digital skills, enhance the impact and reach of my own artwork and help support the growth and recognition of art and artists in Stirling.”⠀
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Ken was mentored by award-winning contemporary artist David Cass who is known for creating artworks with recycled materials.⠀
MEET KEN ELLIOTT
Who are you? What do you do?
Hi, my name is Ken Elliott. I am based in Dunipace, just outside of Stirling. I have recently changed direction after a career in engineering with the petrochemical industry in Grangemouth to become an artist and sculptor. ⠀
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From my school days, I have always been interested in drawing and making things. Once I had developed some skills through an engineering apprenticeship I found that I particularly enjoyed any opportunity to include flowing shapes in metal and wood.⠀
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I am currently focused on using sculpture to explore ways to transform the lines of my drawings into three-dimensional forms using shaped metal strips.⠀
What's your Scene Stirling project? Tell us about it.
My project is to feature one of my sculptures in a 360-degree interactive image presentation. Currently, I am working to complete the sculpture. Polishing the aluminum parts of my 3.5 high sculpture 'Tree'. The miniature version that I used to design the structure can be seen on my website.
Where do you currently work from?
I am fortunate that I work from home and have an outdoor work shed to make my sculpture and a warm quiet space upstairs for my computer work. I enjoy creating new things in my sheds and I am always up for a new challenge.⠀
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For some video clips that how I make my sculpture, you can visit my YouTube channel: 'Ken's Engineered Art’.
What challenges are you facing?⠀
The challenging parts of the project are making the choices between the different ways of using digital media and social media to promote my artwork. In the processing of the images for the 360-degree presentation choosing how many to use and the resolution for them is interesting. Also how best to make the finished presentation interesting for the viewer without being too complex to interact with.⠀
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Building a turntable that will support the full-sized sculpture has also been interesting. I am experimenting with some prototypes using miniature trial sculptures which I may make in the future. For a look at one of these see the link opposite. For the final presentation, a full-sized, 3.5m tall sculpture of a tree will be the subject.
What have you learnt in your commission so far?⠀
I discovered some new and interesting visual techniques using software to produce a large number (hundreds) of sequential images to make up an animation. Adobe Photoshop has a great batch automation feature for this which I didn’t know about until now. ⠀
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I am also learning how to use a more sophisticated digital camera, a Nikon D750, to improve the quality of how I record these images.
MeNTORED BY DAVID CASS
David Cass was born in Edinburgh and brought up in the Scottish Borders. He graduated with First Class Honours from Edinburgh College of Art in 2010, receiving the Royal Scottish Academy’s John Kinross Scholarship to Florence.
Furthermore The Royal Scottish Academy’s Benno Schotz Prize 2018, named work by Cass as the most promising created by a practicing artist in Scotland under 35. The RSA now holds six of his artworks in their permanent collection.
Cass is difficult to pigeon-hole as he works across such a wide variety of media: principally he creates three-dimensional paintings using exclusively found objects sourced at flea-markets around Europe – though his practice also involves digital media and sculpture.
“I’m delighted to have been a mentor for the Digital Commissions. As an artist who firmly believes in the power of collaboration, with a keen interest in audience engagement, the opportunity to share what I’ve learned during my career was most welcome. I was paired with Ken Elliott, an immensely capable artist, seeking guidance on digital documentation and presentation.
I believe we thoroughly tackled the processes involved in bringing the quality of Ken’s work into the digital realm, and he was more than willing to immerse himself in the project, pushing himself to the furthest extent. The pairing, in my view, was spot on and Scene Stirling’s seamless organisation and subtle handling produced fruitful collaboration and positive results for all involved. The one-to-one nature of our sessions was helpful, and as an artist and some-time mentor, I learned a great deal from the experience too. I do hope the project continues and wish you all the best.”
— David Cass, Contemporary Artist
Meet our Digital Commission Cohort
