Bruce Ingram’s waste not want not art

The average art studio produces a vast amount of waste – discarded materials, off-cuts, failed experiments, leftover paints and soiled papers. While some environmentally minded creatives endeavour to limit waste and recycle when possible, for London artist Bruce Ingram, studio cast-offs represent a myriad of unrealised possibilities, which he explores through his sculpture and multi-media paint and paper collages.

Ingram, who studied at the Royal College of Art, has work currently on show at East London’s Schwartz gallery as part of a group exhibition entitled ‘in Forward-Reverse’ – a collection of works that explore ideas of entropy and augmented landscapes through to anti-painting and architectural palimpsests. Intrigued by his approach, we asked him a few questions.

What work is showing at Schwartz?
I am showing two new site responsive installations. Central to both of these are sculptures that are physically connected to the plinth they are displayed on. The sculptures are inspired by forms of Japanese flower arrangements; ‘ Ikebana’ has been a reference within the development of composition and form within my recent sculptural works.

Bruce Ingram, Still life: Number 2 (2012), Plaster, ply wood, twig, wire and spray paint

The theme of the exhibition is “miscommunications, apparent misuses and repositioning that together develop an ambiguous sense of ‘site’” – how does your offering fit in with this?
Over the last year I have started showing my sculptures alongside a series of collaged painted boards. I started to bring boards in to my studio to gather the leftover and wastage of materials such as plaster and paint. The boards are placed on both floor and walls and repositioned until I gather a pleasing effect. The rich and textural surfaces display a mixture of intentional mark making through the touch of my fingerprints and accidental spillages. When installing the work in an exhibition, I take a variety of boards to the gallery and arrange until an overall composition is achieved between the sculptures and boards. For the exhibition at Schwartz, I am bringing this evidence of my making process into the gallery, positioning these boards on the floor and leaning against a central pillar.

Bruce Ingram, Elevation (2011), Plaster, wood, polystyrene, canvass, gloss paint and wool

How did you develop your style?
My earlier works centred around found objects, my sculptures represented something that already existed in the world. I also used lots of representational imagery in the form of collage material. My work changed two years ago, as I abandoned previous processes in a favour of an approach that would be more transitional and fluid. I was always interested in my own studio environment, so I suppose I just stared looking closer to home as an avenue for my own creativity. Also my work is usually abstract, which I feel opens up new endless possibilities. By making and experimentation, more situations arise in the studio. I like chance encounters and random juxtapositions that take place between the studio wall and floor.

Bruce Ingram, Still life: Number 5 (2012), Plaster, polystyrene, paper, wood, spary paint, twig, cardboard and tape

How does the location of your studio affect your work?
My studio is based in Hackney Wick, an industrial area in East London. Looking out my window I can see the Olympic site. I enjoy the ugliness and emptiness of the industrial area. I often find materials lying around in the street, packaging from the nearby factories get picked up and is added to the ‘flotsam and jetsam’ that kicks around the studio. Recently, I have been interested in the display of exotic fruit in my local grocery shop; I have been making simple plaster casts of fruit and incorporating these objects in a series of still lifes. These arrangements have formed between the making of my current sculptures. 

Bruce Ingram, Untitled (2012), Broken glass, building debris, cardboard, gouache paint, spray paint, ply wood and air-drying clay

The work of Bruce Ingram is exhibited at the group show in Forward Reverse at East London’s Schwartz Gallery until May 5. Also showing is work by Joshua Bilton, Jack Brindley, Elena Damiani, Ismail Erbil, Minae Kim, Patrick Michalopoulos, Junko Otake.

If you’re interested in reading about more up-and-coming painters, make sure to check out Vitamin P2 - A dynamic overview of the best new contemporary painting from around the world, which features the work of 115 artists working internationally who have been nominated by highly respected critics and curators. Creamier also bring to you 100 of the most exciting contemporary artists emerging today, again each chosen by prominent international curators.