Patrick Stratton
Patrick Stratton introduced his unique works to the art world for the first time in 2021. Through combining tapestry with mechanics, he creates live and playful images that excite the viewer. The pop art moving images and color scheme enhance and exaggerate everyday tasks such as grating cheese, and hoovering.
If you are interested in Patrick’s work, please visit his website or Instagram.
About:
Patrick Stratton is a Londoner, who started his artistic production about five years ago. Having graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA in Mathematics and Philosophy, he then went on to a Masters in Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School.
Stratton is interested in forming and describing patterns - this interest has led him to transfer his artistic practice from painting to weaving. He applies tapestry making techniques to sculptural mechanics as an experiment, utilising abstract forms and materials such as iron rebar and plaster.
During the lockdown, deriving knowledge from his said experimentation period, his works turned into what they are now - automated figurative tapestries that combine electronics and coding with traditional rug weaving.
In his work, the main theme the artist explores is existentialism, doing so in a deliberately playful manner. His inspiration are writers like Samuel Beckett, and their approach to this subject through systematic styling (slowly building up an image). Stratton’s work is contained in a series called Things I Do Sometimes which is a comically long list that sits on his desk of the things he does in his life, no matter how small or mundane they are. His attempt to list all of his actions, which sometimes might be unconscious ones, are his way to quantify and highlight the ‘everyday’. Still, this is not really the 'end all’ and ‘be all’ of his work, Stratton says. While personal living and artistic production work simultaneously in his life, he is trying to aggrandise the day-to-day by making 2-meter-tall tapestries depicting putting toothpaste on a toothbrush for example.
His love for weaving arose early on in life, as he observed his mother who wove at home. Patrick started weaving midway through his degree, taking a year off to focus on making art. The initial idea was to use a binary-like making system to depict mathematical patterns, but that approach quickly went out of the window as he became engrossed with all the techniques offers.
Ever since then, Patrick defines himself as ‘hooked’ on the practice of weaving, mostly for what it looks like and how it feels doing it, but also for its potential. Due to weaving being a technique that surrounds modern living, it is immensely flexible in application. Early on in his practice, he became fascinated with how it can be integrated with other materials – from plaster, to neon, to chicken wire.
This eventually led him to picking up coding and electronics - this interest arose while the artist was doing his degree in mathematics. However, Stratton only started integrating electronics in his works after looking at artists like Conrad Shawcross and Chris Burden. Their kinetic sculptures were always engaging, especially for their intricate design. He is also influenced by artists like Erin M. Riley and Brent Wadden - two weavers with very different approaches. Wadden’s way of incorporating colour and art historical motifs in his weavings resonates with Stratton.
His most recent work is Things I Do Sometimes: Hoover Up Stuff. This piece was made as part of a continuing series. It depicts a hoover hoovering up a mess on the floor. Currently working on a couple of projects, Stratton also produces schematic drawings of the already existing artworks. Moreover, a new addition to the Things I Do Sometimes series – Twirl Spaghetti - is exciting for him, as the compositional drawings are coming out very nicely.
In his works, Stratton is drawing a parallel between weaving and coding, integrating them into one-another. According to the artist, both crafts require a systematic style of working. Moreover, historically weaving has been a significant player in industrial production and computing, with the Jacquard loom for example, or Babbage’s early work in computing.
However, the unique technique Stratton uses, he defines as incidental. Deep down, the combination of these two mediums excites him, as it allows him to return to his upbringing – playing with Lego and taking apart computers and radios (being not so good at putting them back together, he says laughingly). One of his tutors once told him: “most artist’s end up doing what they did as kids” and he ends up following that phrase emphatically.
Already, Stratton has had the opportunity to show work in major shows domestically and abroad. These experiences have been significant for his learning and artistic growth. He contributed a work to the REA Emerging Art Fair in early September 2021 - a real lesson in art handling, he mentions. The Ashurst Emerging Art Prize was the first time his artwork got chosen for a competition which was a big boost, but also taught him practical lessons in how to gear up his works in order to be shown in different environments.
Bare Necessities at Haus Gallery, a small group show he was a part of in June, was a big step as it was the first time Stratton had collaborated with other artists to put on a show outside of an academic environment.
Selected Exhibitions:
REA Emerging Art Fair: 3-6 September 2021, Milan
The Holy Art, Aura show, 1 – 8th October 2021, 21-31 Shacklewell Lane, London
Ashurst Emerging Art Prize, Shortlisting, 16th June – 17th October 2021, Ashurst, London
