ARTIST STATEMENT
My work responds in diverse ways to particular places and their histories, and is realised in direct engagement with concept, materials and processes. Intense research plays a large part in my practice, and the journey it takes me on is key. The various projects I have been involved in from the Forest of Dean to most recently in Staffin on the Isle of Skye have been greatly enhanced by the contributions and involvement of the local communities, with whom I have worked, from local historians, miners, builders to school students. My work often exists in two places, transferring information from one place to another through physical sculpture and sometimes elements of sound and film (as in Quern Song and the River Dulais) to reveal hidden aspects of the landscapes with which I am working. This has involved taking inside what is outside and vice versa and bringing to the surface to make visible what lies below unseen. Hidden aspects and stories within the landscapes of Skye and Aberdeen have been revealed through the form and positioning of bouys and markers for instance. The precision of measurement has proved to be a useful tool. Some of the work has been inspired by an event that has happened in a particular place, for example at Jupiter Artland and on The Lizard in Cornwall whilst other works have been informed by geological, industrial and cultural histories, as in the Forest of Dean and Staffin. The work aims to transmit fresh sensations and knowledge of a place to the viewer, through my own physical and emotional personal experience of it.
BIOGRAPHY
Henry was born in Bath in 1987. After studying at the University of
Gloucestershire and Wimbledon School of Art (2007-2010), Henry graduated with a
1st class Honours degree and was the joint winner of the final years Landmark
Sculpture Prize.
He went on to participate in a number of group shows in London galleries. On
the strength of his degree show he was invited to exhibit in the Anticipation
Exhibition, showcasing the best of London's graduates and post graduates, which
was selected by Kay Saatchi. Shortly after, he became the recipient of Jupiter
Artland's 2010 summer residency, which had been open to all graduates from the
colleges of The University of the Arts, London that year. As a result, Jupiter
Artland commissioned an artwork for their permanent collection. Hare hill was
installed in the summer of 2012.
Henry has since been involved in a long term project at Rubislaw quarry in
Aberdeen, making works in response to Europe’s largest manmade hole, where
plans are ongoing to create a heritage center to celebrate the history of
granite in the city. Some of this work, including ‘The depth of time’ was
shown in Spinach in Islington in 2014/15. After winning the commission in early 2015,
Henry has been working on a body of work to develop a site specific sculpture, which
reveals aspects of the rich history, both geographical and industrial of The Forest of Dean.
He currently lives and works from his studio in Windsor, and was elected to the
Royal British Society of Sculptors earlier this year.
EDUCATION
2007 -BA (Hons) Fine Art: Sculpture, University of the Arts London at Wimbledon
2006 - Foundation Art and Design, University of Gloucestershire
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018- Royal Society of Sculptors summer show, Curated by Jo Baring
2018 - Henry Castle and Lateral North Present Ideas for a Crofter's Memorial for Staffin,
Isle of Skye, Atlas Arts.
2017- London Group Sculpture
2014 - Spinach, Angel, London
2010 - Anticipation, selfridges
2010 - Burghley Sculpture Park annual exhibition.
2010 - Taking a line for a walk, Wimbledon College of Art
2010 - Volume and Void, Wimbledon College of Art
2010 - Vulpes Vulpes, clapton, London
2009 - Ada Gallery, Broadway Market, London
2009 - Vyner street gallery, Bethnal green, London
2009 - Wimbledon College of Art, London
2007 - Pittville Gallery, University of Gloucestershire.
AWARDS AND COMMISSIONS
2017- Staffin Crofters Memorial Project, Atlas Arts, Isle of skye
2016- Elected to the Royal British Society of Sculptors
2015 - Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust commission
2012 - Jupiter Artland Commission
2010 - Jupiter Artland Award and residency
2010 - Landmark art prize
PUBLICATIONS
2019 - A Crofters’ Memorial by Henry Castle, Commissioned by Atlas Arts
ISBN: 9780993562044
2018 - The Generous Landscape: Ten Years of Jupiter Artland Foundation
ISBN: 9780995783010
2016 - Coal Measure Giants by Henry Castle, Commissioned by The Forest of Dean sculpture trust.