Robert Bradford

Robert Bradford grew up in South London, knowing at a young age that he wanted to be an artist.  He completed his Foundation at Beckenham School of Art, his BA in painting at Ravesbourne College of Art in Kent, London, and completed his MA in film at the Royal College of Art, London.  While he focused the beginning of his career in painting and drawing, he transitioned into film video and photography when he was offered a visiting lectureship at San Diego State University in California.  In 2004, Bradford started working on a series of sculptures where he attached plastic toys onto a wooden armature to transform the plastic toy into objects representing something more.

Toys from Robert Bradford's work

In Dark Sniff, Bradford has taken a collection of toys and turned them into a representational piece of a dog.  The dog is standing on all 4 legs, while his heard sniffs at the ground.  The dog is in the shape of a hound dog, and the action is what hound dogs do ~ following their nose wherever it may go.  The piece is colorful with texture created from the toys that are used to comprise the piece. 

Sniff

Toys and torches on wood

120 x 60 x 45 cms approx

Another piece of Bradford’s is titled Toy Soldier, another wood armature covered in discarded toys.  This piece seems quite amusing to me as Bradford has used discarded toys to create a larger replication of a toy ~ a toy soldier.  Again the colors and textures add to the piece, giving the viewer many area’s to look at, follow, and explore. 

Toy Soldier

Plastic toys on wood life size figure

While Bradford’s work seems to sway on the side of crafty, one thing he noted was that children seem to take an interest in his work.  I can see how utilizing a material that is interesting to children would make them excited to seeing the work.  Hopefully that excitement introducing a whole new generation into the world of art, something that is overlooked in this day and age and seen as less important than Math and Science.  Pieces like Bradford’s may just help bring out the creative side in kids, letting them see objects that are more than the toy they have at the bottom of their toy box, seeing them as a material for something that can touch others.