Nick Renshaw - Visual Artist

'Panoply' is a series of sculptures which uses the formal vocabulary of classical portrait busts as the basis for a range of depictions of the human figure. These works incorporate a variety of ceramic materials, production techniques, and surface treatments. Central to the methodology in developing these scullptures is the balance, relationship, interplay, and occasional tension which occurs when combining the perceived mechanical characteristics of mold manufacturing with the unrestrained action of hand forming. Appropriately for works which are conceived with plurality as a further key concept 'Panoply' itself infers a number of meanings, referring at once to either a full suit of armour, a complete defence and protective covering, or to an impressive array or collection. These ideas, both individually as well as collectively, are of fundamental iimportance to the evolution of this series of sculptures.