James Andrew Oldfield

Andrew immigrated to the Kingdom of Fife from London nine years ago with his Scottish wife and has now settled in Aberdour. A practicing designer, he is currently working in Kirkintilloch for a packaging company. He has worked with metals for over 13 years in many forms; creative giftware, sculptures for a pop video, structural steelwork in the Royal Albert Hall, a greyhound for "Father Ted" and closer to home an exhibition system for Fife Council Arts – currently in use at the Lochgelly Centre.

This group of sculptures is inspired by his love of the coastal environment. Stony beaches, kelp fronds and crustacean forms all find reference in the works. The actual trigger for the first pieces of work was a request from a friend to create an earring stand for craft shows. The need to have a very stable structure with a small footprint (and the availability of a house brick with holes in it) started the thought process that led to the first "Kelp" concepts.

The two pieces on display at The Boathouse are a further development of the plant theme, with more detailed work on the leaves and there attachments to give a more plant like feel to the work. Mediterranean seaweed off the Turkish coast had a direct influence on the shaping of the fronds on the works. The fan shape has come from coral.

Above all, a sense of fun runs though the work, and he hopes you enjoy the shapes and sounds these forms make as much as he has enjoyed making them.