University of Sunderland

Prof Brian Thompson

Professor Brian Thompson graduated from The University of Newcastle in 1975 with an MFA in Sculpture. He has been awarded numerous prizes including: the Norwich School of Art Fellowship, the Pernod prize and the Peter Stuyvesant Art prize. His work has been disseminated through exhibitions and lectures in Europe, USA, and Asia including; The Condition of Sculpture, Hayward Gallery London; The Paris Biennale; The British Art Show; Sculpture Trails Museum, Indiana; the House of the Artist Moscow and the Guandong Museum of Art, China. He was a pioneer of practice-based doctorates in Art & Design being director of studies of one of the first PhD completions in Sculpture in 1992. He is Associate Dean for Research, Resources and External Engagement at the University of Sunderland.

Research Interests

His research is studio-based with sculpture and drawing that brings together two themes; methodological invention in the manufacture and craft of sculpture with approaches to an engagement with landscape. His work is topographical in nature and is part of a personal research project drawing together interests in a physical engagement with landscape through walking and related approaches to mapping with the developments of new craft approaches in making sculpture.

He is interested in how journeys inspire and explore landscapes, man-made or otherwise; how paths get worn, compress and build up over many generations. These journeys show the topography of the world, reveal something of its history and give insights into how we come to know and navigate. A significant part of the development of the sculptural work is the approach to form and the considered use of materials and associated processes. Sometimes these become `patterns' for casting or constructions in materials relevant to the location; such as wood, paper, iron, glass, bronze, stone or lead. The sculptures serve as records, memories, souvenirs or trophies.

Research Activities

Engagement with landscape through physical experience revealed through sculptural metaphor is a current concern. He is a founder member of the University of Sunderland's Walking, Art, Landskip and Knowledge (W.A.L.K.) research group, valuing landscape through notions of the picturesque and through a revisiting of the methodologies of the romantic poets. He is preparing work for W.A.L.K. seminars and exhibition in the UK, USA and Japan. He currently supervises five practice-based PhD students in Art and Design.