Nic Acaster Artist
All recent artwork has been made from the timbers and metal of a 30ft Hastings and Rye clinker-built fishing boat called, ''Rosie Haze,'' RX320, (image, as a working vessel on Hastings beach) which I bought and decommissioned in 2016.
This art project has taken on many forms to include, a site specific 40ft sculpture of a Blue Whale,(image, exhibited at Waveney Valley Sculpture trail in 2018). Rye Oystercatcher, (image, exhibited at the www.visualartopen.com was nominated as a 2020 finalist).
I am now working on a collection of sea birds made from the remaining timbers and casting work with parts of the bronze propeller shaft from 'RX320'. I am currently exhibiting two cormorant sculptures at the Farleys sculpture Garden and the Lee miller gallery in Chiddingly.www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk where my studio is based.
My practice has always been driven by sustainable ethics and a natural affinity with repurposing wooden structures, especially boats. My father was a boat builder, and the materials, structures and precision of his craft runs through and directs me as an artist.
Whilst living in Brighton 1994-2015, I became interested in collecting 'found' objects and driftwood. It soon developed into a business. I rented a disused fisherman’s arch on Brighton seafront, where I started my own studio/gallery and became a founder member of the Brighton Artist Quarter. I have worked alongside Brighton's Wood Re-cycling Centre and from 2001 exhibited through open houses during the Brighton festival.
