Q&A with Sam Peacock
Sam Peacock
It gives me great pleasure to introduce Sam Peacock to the fold of KMA. Sam's inaugural exhibition at the gallery was Ephemeral Landscapes in February 2020. The show embraced two artists connected through mind, creativity and theme. Since then, Sam's work has attracted a lot of attention, and we were intrigued to find out more about the man and the artist and, particularly, his fascination with metal and fire.
Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?
No, but I did want to do art in some capacity, so I went to Art College and did the course on offer for Fire Art and Drawing. I taught art for a few years after my degree and enjoyed many of the challenges modern education entails. I had a few really good jobs at University, such as being a bin man and I worked in a canning factory for a while. Being an artist requires discipline that I didn't have in my earlier years; it's taken a while to get there. Even now, I can wander off and do other things.
Tell us how you begin your day in the studio.
It's a different approach as time progresses. I generally make a list of all the work to post out to galleries, all the work that needs completing, and all the work that needs starting.
I try and keep within the parameters of Plan Execute and Review. Not everything gets completed, and a lot of the work is redone if it's not up to standard.
The day begins at about seven and generally ends at about four.
I would ideally like to take someone on in the future and utilise them as a studio manager.
Your work often includes the application of tea, coffee, sugar and other "trade" materials, as well as fire. How did you start working this way?
Weirdly enough, it began with a fascination with companies, such as the East India Company, and the dealings they had around the rest of the globe and from reading how the British Empire flourished while other countries became subjugated. Queen Victoria's reign interests me, especially the way she exerted authority in regions that produced tea. I am no expert on the matter, however. But reading books by the author, Saul David, amongst many others, has helped inform my decision on the materials.
Your choice of canvas is metal; why is this your preferred material with which to work?
Steel has this wonderful malleable quality, which is essential to the production of where I am at right now with the work. At University, I used to take cars apart and set them on fire with petrol, then smash them with a variety of hammers and metal objects. I don't think I was the most popular student within the campus and the staff there, and I don't think I cared.
Further back, most of my family's male fraternity has been involved with metals at some point.
Do you create drafts or work in sketchbooks?
Yes, weirdly enough. I do these colour mixes which I put onto paper. I recently sold a collection of them to raise money for "FeedTheNHS" campaign, organised by Highgate Contemporary and Leon Restaurants. An excellent initiative to help give front line staff somewhere to eat when their shifts end.
How do you know when a piece is finished or needs reworking?
That's the point where you can truly consider yourself an artist if you decipher that. That's a hard question to answer. It has to have the magic touch, a bit of leftfield to it. Finishing is probably the hardest task in the world.
Some of your past collections were inspired by travels through the landscape. Do you have ambitions to travel anywhere specific next?
I would love to do Jordan, Egypt and the coastal road to Tunisia. I think that, politically, lots of that part of the world is not accessible to travellers at specific points and, to be honest, after the pandemic, I don't think I will go further than Europe for some time. I will try and go to Normandy and head down to Luxembourg in the car, to soak up some artistic inspiration and take in the wine and cheese and enjoy the sun rays.
What are your techniques for moving past creative blocks?
Oh, just go and set something on fire. It works a treat.
What do you do away from the studio to recharge?
I collect 19/20th C African weaponry. I like to go to the Wallace Collection to admire their Indian and Arabic weaponry collections, alongside Spanish late-Renaissance artefacts.
I am in a local sword fighting group and participate in demonstrations each year in the town where I live. I quite like the brutality of combat with other blokes.
Tell us about an artist you admire and why
There can only be one answer to this question. Kurt Schwitters has been an influence on my process since A level. The ability to take something as mundane as a paper receipt from a bank and turn it into one of the most talked-about assemblages of art in the 20th C, (Merzbau series 1937). Wanted for questioning by the Gestapo, he fled to Norway in the late 30s, and then on to Scotland as a refugee. A well-travelled and inspiring individual.
What's your favourite piece of British coastline?
The South Coast has always held a special place in my heart. Full of fantastic scenery and sprawling coastline mixed with sun-bleached charity shops and things that time forgot. Anywhere that envokes spirits of a time when you could just do your own thing and not have set timings.
Describe the biggest highlight in your artistic career so far.
I could happily go into a big rant about how I have done commissions for this hotel and that housing project. But in all honesty, getting into art college when I was 16 and being able to paint and feel alive.
If you could have any other skill, what would it be?
I have a great skill; I can operate a bin van.
Do you have art in your home that isn't your own?
Here we go, serious part. I have a few contemporary pieces of art and a few 18th C landscape...
Have you ever created a piece of art that you would never sell?
I have a stash of greatest hits, which show how I have conquered certain things at various points in my career. At some point in the next two years, I will show them in order and let the viewer try to make some sense of what I have done. I also have a stash of crap that never gets finished and is now rusting out the back.