AllianceNow UK

About the work
A piece of political art wittily expressing the maker's view on the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, Brexit. 

Artist's Statement
This artwork started life as a placard to take on a protest about sewage in the River Dee. I was looking for a suitable board when I came across an unused canvas and decided it would do. I got carried away, absorbed in the creative process and emerged three days later with this painting. It has since travelled to other protests and has been fully restored for this auction, and I hope someone would like to purchase a little piece of history. It even has some stickers on the back, but the pole has been removed.

I have tried to convey my anger at the broken promises and betrayal over Brexit, particularly over environmental standards and the NHS. Sewage running into our rivers is a reality and an allegory for polluted politics. The big red Vote Leave bus has lost its emperor’s clothes and appears as an old London double-decker, driverless and broken down in the river of sewage.

Someone on Twitter once referred to the sunny uplands promised by Brexiteers as “The Unlit Souplands.”, I thought it very apt, and it has stuck in my head ever since.

I like to be playful in my work and am drawn to quirkiness. I find the processes of conception, growth, flux and evolution endlessly fascinating and seek to capture something of the wonder and power of nature. I am making links between natural processes and politics and have an interest in the power dynamics between the public, politicians and the media.

About the artist
The natural world inspires Risley’s work.  Her work follows a tradition of sculptural object making where craftsmanship and hand finishing are important, using a range of media including Cor-ten steel, and bronze. 

She currently creates large Cor-ten steel sculptures, which are derived from microscopic flora and fauna, to create pieces using mathematical precision and engineering, thus giving her works a mechanical feel and sometimes a menacing presence.

Her forms are derived from botany and microbiology. By creating forms from geometric metal sections they become strange otherworldly objects which echo munitions and spacecraft. Pollen grains may appear like sea mines and seed pods become spacecraft. Recent works have a more ephemeral quality, with laser-cut openings creating three-dimensional drawings in space. 

The artist is also a democracy campaigner interested in the power dynamics between the press and government. She is concerned about the malign use of algorithms and data harvests to influence political outcomes; this is evident in “Pollen Bomb”, “Astropod” and “Space Flower”. 

Currently she has a solo exhibition, “Seeds of Change”, at Crewe Hall in Cheshire until early 2024.

Recent Exhibitions

Sculpture at Beaulieu, 2023

Fresh Air Sculpture, 2022

Recent Commissions

“Honey Pots” A series of works for the Chester Zoo nature corridor outreach project sited at various community gardens across Chester. 2023

“Moving Forward Looking Back” A large mechanical horse sculpture for The Cheshire Yeomanry sited at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. 2022

https://www.cheshiresculpture.co.uk/