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Q1 Could you tell us about yourself?
I was born in Cornwall in 1977 and currently live and work in London. I left art school six years ago and have been practicing as an artist since.
Q2 What were your early influences? How did you start?
My earliest influences came from growing up on a farm. My parents didn't like us to watch too much television so I spent a good deal of time making camps outside. I also spent a lot of time making model tanks and airplanes. I've been making things since I can remember. |
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Q3 You use many different materials for your works, especially you often use rodent materials, why? (I was amazed by your mouse skull spheres!)
I guess I started using these materials because they were there! The mouse skulls came from Barn Owl pellets collected from disused farm buildings around Cornwall. I worked out how to find where the Owls live and in each place would come across a pile of neatly packaged mouse remains. Sometimes there would be hundreds of skeletons, they fascinated me.
Q4 How do you describe your style? Where do you usually get your inspiration for your works?
It’s difficult to describe my style, I like to explore different materials and processes so it changes from piece to piece - maybe obsessive compulsive! Inspiration can be both intuitive and conceptual and can come from anything from a visit to the British Museum to a story in the evening news (the media, and its affect on modern ethos, is an important influence).
Q5 Could you tell us the projects that you are working on right now?
My current project is based around natural selection. I am using amber and working closely with a lapidary. |
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| Alastair Mackie is London based artist who graduated from the London School of Art and won the Madame Tussaud's Award in 1999 and the City & Guilds Sculpture Prize in 2000. Inspired by the military subjects, Alastair's work has to do with 'the childish obsessions boys have and plying with those ideas.' Often he uses unconventional materials like mouse skulls, mouse fur and rodent leg bones for his amazing works. Alastair has exhibited his work widely in London over the past few years. He just had a solo exhibition at Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica CA. and will have a small group show with Adventure Ecology (London) in March 2007. |
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Q6 Could you tell us the work you enjoyed the most so far?
It was probably Mud hut. The process by which this piece was made was a bit like cooking - it took three attempts to get right. Also it's on a slightly different scale to other works.
Q7 What is beauty means to you?
Beauty is important as it gives something the quality of being pleasing. Almost anything can be beautiful, even something quite awful - it just depends on how you look at it. As a result it can distract and contradict.
Q8 What's coming for 2007? Any plans for the exhibition?
I have a few shows lined up for next year. The first will be a small group show with Adventure Ecology (London) in March. |
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