Connor Shields
www.connorshields.com
connorshieldsartist@gmail.com
Amongst the ruins
2022
Steel, concrete, paving slabs, knitted acrylic, rubber.
Amongst the ruins is a sculptural work commissioned by Sunny Bank Mills as part of their Material Matters exhibition. For his work, Shields looked at a sociology paper by Jason Prior by the same title as the titled work, where Prior interviewed gay men in New York, Montréal and Sydney, reflecting on their experiences of cruising and its links to urban ruined spaces. Shields used their accounts of the affective qualities of these spaces and their relevance, or suitability, as spaces to explore gay male identity away from heteronormativity, particularly during times when it was not safe for some to explore elsewhere. Using these accounts, Shields took influence from the aesthetic qualities of these spaces, informing the resulting sculpture which was exhibited as part of the final exhibition on materiality and material language within fine art practice.
Amongst the ruins
Amongst the ruins
Shifted matter
2023
Concrete, scaffold netting, unlisted plywood floorboards, foam underlay, screws, dust, debris, glass.
Dimensions variable.
Kiss Me Again
2021
Scaffold poles, cotton lycra, duvet stuffing, thread, rubber.
240x80x80cm
Stack
2020
Concrete breeze blocks, yellow grab handles, orange polypropylene rope, bolts, screws.
Dimensions variable (concrete 'stack': 110x44x20cm)
Can't you hear the thunder?
2021
Digital photogrpah.
A0
He tells me I smell like a flower
2022
Scaffold poles, knitted cotton lycra, rubber.
230x120x80cm
Deep Excavation
2022
Mild steel, vinyl, orange polypropylene rope.
84x60cm.
Can you spot me real quick?
2021
Concrete, orange polypropylene rope, steel grab handles, screws.
Dimensions variable.
He tells me I smell like a flower
Deep Excavation
2022
Mild steel, vinyl, orange polypropylene rope.
Sign face: 84x60cm.
Disparity
2018
Concrete breeze blocks, knitted acrylic, knitting needle.
100x44x20cm
Brace
2018
Concrete breeze block, denim rope, bolt.
Dimensions variable.