The skateboarding sculptor bringing endangered species to life

The skateboarding sculptor bringing endangered species to life
A city of wild cats — Artist and skateboarder Arran Gregory is interested in the place where urban and rural landscapes clash and collide. His newest work is a natural evolution on a theme.

Arran Gregory is sitting in the shadow of a huge Amur leopard. The beautiful, imposing creature – almost two meters wide, and a meter high, covered in a jigsaw of geometric mirrors – is in fact a scale replica of a large male.

When Arran started sculpting it almost two years ago, there were only 30 left in the wild. Learning that fact from a documentary sparked Arran into a sculpting frenzy which resulted in a family of leopards he eventually exhibited at a show called Hunt in the Truman Brewery, East London, in 2015.

DSC_1658_edit_2

Trained as a graphic designer, Arran had been experimenting with line drawings of wild animals in his final years at Chelsea Art College, but an obsession with physicality led him to bring them to life. “I taught myself to sculpt and how to work with all these new materials and it was a really fun process,” says Arran, sat in his idyllic studio on the rural outskirts of London. “I get a sense of satisfaction from physically creating something. Drawing got to the stage where it felt a bit samey and static.”

DSC_1663 Arran credits an early love of skateboarding – he got hooked after finding a board in a garage aged nine – with instilling a fascination with three dimensions. “Through skateboarding, you’re subjected to a DIY visual culture, where people make their own flyers, videos, and t-shirts from a young age,” he says.

“It’s something that I applied to the way I work. If I have an idea that excites me, I just create it. I’ve also got this obsession with geometry, angles, lines, reduction and form. A lot of that comes from the way you perceive architecture and space as a skateboarder. You’re always looking at how to reinterpret your environment for play.

But at the same time there’s a lot of discipline involved in both my practice as a sculptor and in skateboarding, actually. It’s not just going out and mucking around the whole time.” Skateboarding may draw him into the city, but Arran’s art practice always circles him back to nature. When he made his first mirrored animal he was thinking about camouflage.

“In a forest at night there’s a whole world that’s invisible,” he says. “There are so many invisible layers to nature that we don’t quite see. So I wanted to create something that would just blend into its environment.” And when he made the family of leopards for the Hunt show, he wanted to raise awareness about their conservation.

So how does he consolidate his two inspirations – urban landscapes and rural ones – in his mind? “I just feel like I’m reacting to the world that I live in,” he says. “We’re living in this super evolved age; we’re animals and we’re a part of nature but we’re living in cities and creating worlds that are very human and very different… I guess I’m just comparing the two and looking at the differences.”

DSC_1974

Arran sees all of his work as an evolution on a theme – he’s talked about even creating moving kinetic sculptures in the future – and his newest project is a natural step in that direction; another leopard, this time painted white and installed in front of a floating glossy black cube.

“The glossy black cube is supposed to represent technology as an object,” says Arran. “We’re always staring at our phones and computer screens, and when you switch them off, they’re just mirrored surfaces. So I want the leopard to be intrigued by this object and absorbed into its reflective surface. You know when you’re on the internet and you’re like, ‘Oh, shit, I’ve just been watching cats spin around for 20 minutes.’ And you don’t even realise it. It’s this whole thing of, ‘Are you in control of it, or is it in control of you?’”

This article first appeared in Lines Through The City, a newspaper – featuring stories of cyclists and skateboarders – made in collaboration with Levi’s.  Enjoyed this article? 

Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Latest on Huck

Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Culture

Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square

Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.

Written by: Miss Rosen

In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Music

In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet

Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
Culture

Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?

One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.

Written by: Emma Garland

In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
Culture

In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm

A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.

Written by: Alex King

Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
Culture

Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home

From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.

Written by: Maria Teriaeva

Petition to save the Prince Charles Cinema signed by over 100,000 people in a day
Activism

Petition to save the Prince Charles Cinema signed by over 100,000 people in a day

PCC forever — The Soho institution has claimed its landlord, Zedwell LSQ Ltd, is demanding the insertion of a break clause that would leave it “under permanent threat of closure”.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Sign up to our newsletter

Issue 81: The more than a game issue

Buy it now