Stuart Horner is a Ballarat based artist. He makes sculpture, both kinetic and static, as well as digital artwork and drawings in monochrome.
Balance, momentum and interfaces are important themes in his work. The false dichotomy that is often portrayed between art and science is also of particular interest, reflecting his non-traditional route into art, having been trained in geology, environmental science, and geospatial technology.
His kinetic sculptures explore non-linearity, feedback loops, and auto-mobility, utilizing a variety of existing concepts including fluid dynamics, zoetropes and unconventional gear configurations. The physical form of his sculpture is always intended to be s subordinate to the motion that it accommodates.
His static sculptural work reveals implied interfaces. He seeks to question how we perceive boundaries and attempts to confront the viewer with their own subjectivity around them.
Stuart’s drawing covers broader territory, moving between autosymbolism and works that address specific issues including environmental degradation, consumerism, and political matters.
Stuart also explores the intersection of geospatial technology and art, using open source data and mapping tools to investigate aspects of terrain and landscape, and how we relate to them.
Recycled materials feature prominently in his work with existing attributes of salvaged materials commonly utilised in both construction and development of concept of his work. In his static sculpture, he is transitioning from cast metal into plastic as his preferred media, in recognition of plastic as a zeitgeist defining medium.
He has exhibited in several galleries across central Victoria, and has undertaken coursework in bronze casting and drawing.
His influences include Theo Jansen, Jennifer Townley, Alexander Calder, Lygia Clark, Jean Tinguely, Tamara de Lempika, Bridget Riley, Group zero, Reuben Margolin and Anouk Wipprecht.
He is also a novice pilot, occasional children's illustrator and supremely lapsed classical guitarist.