calumstevens123@gmail.com
@calumstevens
Calum Stevens is an artist working in South East London. His current work explores function and materiality, often within the realm of furniture and the domestic. Through adapting ready made objects and using scrapped materials, he layers suggested histories upon the objects he creates. The functionality and aesthetic of his work is most often in response to people, landscapes or environments that hold personal significance.
Storytelling is at play. Clues to which are left behind in the signs of wear on the surface, or the object’s functions being clearly adapted to suit a suggested need. The audience is urged to use the furniture how they choose. Allowing them to participate in the ever growing lore of the piece.
Bookend
Pine, steel, acrylic paint, varnish
115 x 140 x 160mm
Repurposing reclaimed timber from an old school, these sculptural forms explore the familiar, featuring markings and shapes reminiscent of a sports hall and their accom-panying artefacts. The high-gloss finish inside the bookend hints at the timber’s original purpose, while the curved form appears reminiscent of a hand or glove holding the books in place.
Record Store Shelf
Steel, pine, acrylic paint, yacht varnish and stainless steel fixings
600 x 160 x 350mm
Transforming reclaimed materials into new forms, this piece retains and subtly obscures visible signs of wear, suggesting a past life within the store. These marks, left intentionally visible, serve not just as remnants of the object’s history but as elements that challenge the boundaries between past and present. The work resists simple classification, instead existing as a narrative object that communicates its layered history through its aesthetic transformation.