Andrew Burton

Andrew Burton was born in Bromley, Kent, in 1961. He studied at the Department of Fine Art, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1979-83), and was awarded a State Studentship in sculpture by the university and the British Academy for further study there (1984-86). Burton has an abiding interest in India and Indian culture. He first visited India in 1983, and in 1985 he received a British Academy Travel Award to further his travels in the sub-continent. Appointed lecturer in sculpture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1986, Burton became head of the Department of Fine Art in 1997, a post which he still holds.

Burton has exhibited since 1983, holding his first solo exhibition at Newcastle Polytechnic Gallery in 1990. An exhibition of sculptures based on his experience of India was held at the Royal Institute of British Architects Gallery, London, in 1994, followed by a showing in Newcastle. He has undertaken major commissions for Newcastle Business Park; Minster Court, City of London; Stevenage Museum; the City of Durham; Loanhead, Edinburgh; and Dudley, West Midlands.

Architecture and animals are two of the main visual stimuli for visitors to India, together of course, with heat, dust, smells and phenomenal colour. Burton's attention was drawn to Indian architecture and beasts of burden, and by combining the two in his sculpture he has produced images that provoke mystery and wonder. The impossibility of an elephant carrying a castle or factory becomes a reality in his sculpture, and a pig with towers is transformed into an object of great dignity. His work also refers to the layering of civilised progression: industrial economy over subsistence, mechanisation over nature. Architectural elements may exist on their own in his work, providing a wall against which figurative elements may stand, or as abstract forms like those of the great observatory in Jaipur, designed by Shah Jahan. Bronze, plaster, stone or combinations of these are the materials Burton habitually uses.