Born into a veterinary household in Tamworth in 1964, Sally Matthews attended Loughborough College of Art and Design from 1981 to 86, gaining a First Class Honours in Fine Art and Sculpture. Since then, she has worked constantly, receiving several prestigious awards and bursaries, and travelled extensively around the world to fulfil innumerable public commissions.
Everyone has their own reasons for using animals in art, but for me I always go back to the animals themselves for inspiration. My love of them, their different form, movement, smell and nature are the reasons for my making them. Their nature, even of a domesticated or trained animal is unpredictable and wild, their presence is always enlivening. I want my work to remind people of our need for animals and the example their nature provides us with. The metal armature, the start of most of my sculptures, is the equivalent of a quick line drawing from life. This has to have an initial spark, a rightness. The materials I use such as coire fibre, cow muck, steel, copper, wood, all have a relevance to the subject I am making.
http://www.sallymatthews.co.uk