Malcolm McClay Artist’s Statement
Three recurrent themes define my work: the effect of political forces on people's lives, the poetry of the mechanical, and an interest in viewer-activated work. Growing up close to the border with Northern Ireland and spending four years in Belfast during “The Troubles,” I developed an interest in how political forces affect people's lives. The second recurrent theme is driven by my innate curiosity and attraction to the visual poetry of mechanical objects; this is reflected in the robotics and interactive elements in my work. The third component is an intense interest in delivering an immersive experience to my audience. From an early involvement in theater, my work evolved to include sound, light, movement, text, physical objects and even my own body. I was less interested in blurring the lines between sculpture and theater than I was driven by a desire to find the most direct and powerful means of communicating to my audience on a visceral level.
