Billy’s recycled time travel displayed at Teesside

Recycled wood has been turned into sculptures depicting fragments of domestic life, transformed by the imagination of talented student Billy Tate.

Billy's sculptures will be displayed at the University's fine art show in the Constantine building, from 23 to 27 of May, as part of the University's annual creative arts week event.

Billy, 21, from North Shields, is in the final year of his BA (Hons) Fine Art. He has a long term interest in art which uses wood, and has researched into the Arte Povera movement, Italian for poor art, as well as artists such as David Nash and Mark Dion.

Billy said: ‘I started to use pieces of tree in quite a lot of my work and was influenced by the work of Giuseppe Penone, who recently exhibited at the Tate in London as part of the Arte Povera exhibition. But with the Tees Valley's industrial surroundings I found an abundance of abandoned wooden pallets and started to recycle them in my sculptures.’

The sculptures for Billy's final year project consist of nine pieces made from recycled pallet wood, each one reflecting a different aspect of Billy's childhood.

Made from memories Billy said: ‘Each piece is made from a memory of being a child, a personal reflection of what I can remember.

‘I had quite a wild imagination as a little boy, coming up with my own idea as to what was in my Mam's favourite cupboard, so I've called that piece 'The Magnificent Cupboard'. I glorified that cupboard as a child because I didn't know what was in it, so I used my imagination. Another cupboard is entitled 'The Sweet Cupboard', a fragment of my Grandad's house where he stored all of his chocolates and sweets but never let me in.

‘I'd like visitors to see these intimate details and appreciate their emotional content because I'm hinting at the more secretive and adventurous side of childhood. My parents Billy and Moira have been very encouraging since I started to put the sculptures together in the autumn and will be coming to the exhibition's opening.’

Billy's exhibition will also feature three small painted constructions, depicting the different places he's lived and people he's shared these homes with. Billy is a former student of Churchill Community College and Newcastle College.

Free exhibition part of creative arts week The fine art exhibition is displayed in the University’s Athena and Constantine building. It is free and open to the public from Monday 23 May, from 4.00pm until 8.00pm and from Tuesday 24 to 27 May, 10.00am until 4.00pm. For more details email fineartshow@tees.ac.uk.

The fine art show is part of the University’s annual creative arts week, from Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May. Diverse student excellence in design, fine art, film, dance and performing arts and creative writing will be on display.

The five day event will showcase final year student talent from the University’s School of Arts & Media, and all events are free and open to the general public.

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