Russell Webb was the winner of the Sculpture Prize in the Oxmarket Open 2022 and will be exhibiting with us in the John Rank Gallery in September. Russell makes trompe l’oeil sculptures, usually with wood and paint. They are the result of playful meditations about our place in the universe and they depict ordinary things: a ball of twine, feathers, a bundle of sticks, old books, satsuma peels, a wristwatch, leaves, worms, discarded banana skins, grass, and on it goes.

 There is both humour and sincerity about Russell’s observations, and the outcome of his studies is a kind of interpretive diary of objects. It is a personal catalogue of mementoes and souvenirs that relates closely to the tradition and themes of still-life painting.

Each sculpture is an attempt to suspend time in a world where everything is temporary. Russell says he doesn’t intend to elevate the subjects; it has been enough to notice them. Thus, the comic incident is presented as equal to the tragic - be it a memorial to his Dad via the depiction of his wristwatch or the memory of being chosen by the Gods of Comedy to slide upon a banana skin.

Often, Russell’s subjects are presented much larger than life-size. This enables a truer reflection of the idea that the closer we look, the smaller we become.