Xavier de la Roche b.1996
Multi-media artist Xavier de la Roche is admired for his material and sculptural explorations. Working in a variety of materials such as clay, plaster, steel, alongside drawing and painting, de la Roche examines human relationships and the built environment in which they occur, critically responding and recording through making. Fascinated by space, de la Roche plays with our perception of space by proposing large scale sculptures which carefully blur the line between architecture and installation. Pieces from his series Cranes bring our attention to this comparison in both form and texture. Forms are borrowed from industrial architecture like railway bridges or Victorian gasometers and abstracted by shifts in scale. Textures are rich and contrasted; rough against gloss, translucent against reflective.
Mixed media drawings are heavily worked and depict emerging sculptures layered with washes of gouache and charcoal. Investigation of concepts and ideas is tangible by the physical marks left on canvas or paper. Phrases and symbols are scribbled across the page like instructions, giving an insight the artist’s creative process.
Xavier de la Roche currently lives and works in London, UK.