Artist Statement

Ross Deeley (b.2001, Birmingham) is an Artist working across and inbetween sculpture and drawing, currently living and working in London. 

Deeley’s work is a meditation on the passage of time, done through analysing the materiality of found objects and the imbued histories within them. Influenced by modern philosophy and movements including Thing Theory and Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO), his work examines how materials and objects exist, perceive and absorb information beyond human understanding. Industrial byproducts—such as graphite, anodes, and metallurgical waste—are of particular interest due to their ‘inbetweenness’ as objects, allowing Deeley to reflect on the Anthropocene and humanity's long-term impact on the environment.

Collecting and tracing the history of objects is central to his practice. Within this methodology, he adopts a speculative approach to archeology and geology, imagining these found materials as future fossils, remnants of an industrial dystopia.

Within his sculptures he explores the tension between permanence and impermanence. Recently his practice has revolved around assemblages of organic materials with temporal qualities, such as snail shells, placing them alongside commercial lighting elements and mirrors. The reflected light, amplified by mirrors, creates a dynamic play between absence and presence, reinforcing the idea that time is not linear but recursive—each moment folded into the next, reflecting past and future simultaneously.

He is currently a student at the Royal College of Art, studying on the Contemporary Art Practice MA.