Born the daughter of a vet near Tamworth in 1964, Sally Matthews attended Loughborough College of Art and Design from 1981 to 86. Since then she has received several major bursaries and awards. She works internationally on public commissions and exhibitions, including recently working on wild boar at the Botanic Gardens, Montreal and at the Arte Sella sculpture park, Borgo Valsugana, Italy.
Statement
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/