"What do we feel about ourselves as human beings, about our relationship to each other, to other creatures and to the wider environment in general? Science has tried to put us back as part of nature as we rapidly become more isolated from it, can art express this irony?"
Jon Buck, 2019.
Jon Buck’s work has recently seen a shift in focus, from his familiar subjects - what the artist refers to as his ‘animals of the mind’ - to developing a wider perspective, one which looks at the incredible variation of the life that has evolved and exists alongside us.
Throughout his career Buck has explored and interpreted the world around us, drawing his inspiration from poetry, science and anthropology. He has focused on his sculpture carrying an interpretable narrative through which the viewer can discover metaphors for life. For Buck, an artwork is the product of a historical process of ‘aesthetic co-evolution’ between maker and viewer. The form and surface of each work express the preservation of life, inviting a sensory response through their exploration of our modern culture and universal language of signs and symbols.
Jon Buck has always felt compelled by concerns for the environment, in particular the human relationship to the natural world. His experience working as a birdkeeper at Bristol Zoo in his youth was an important creative inspiration, and through his knowledge of nature and science he began to investigate the ways in which sculpture could stimulate a deeper primal physical response. In earlier works Buck explored surface textures and markings imprinted into the surface of the bronze, which led to an interest in pushing the boundaries of colour through experimentation with patinas and painted surfaces in collaboration with his foundry, Pangolin Editions.
Recently, Buck’s colour palette has evolved to radiate softer hues, and sees a move away from vivid, high gloss surfaces towards more earthy, organic patinations. Both the colour and texture of these new works imbue a mineral quality, and reinforce their connection to nature.
Jon Buck studied at Nottingham and Manchester Art Schools. He is a Member of the Royal West of England Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He has completed many public commissions including Returning to Embrace for Canary Wharf in London and Ship to Shore for Portishead Quays. His work is regularly exhibited both in the UK and abroad and is held in many public and private collections.