Jim Partridge (1953 – )
Jim Partridge was born Leeds; he studied at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood at Parnham House in Dorset. In 1999 he was short-listed for the Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts. Partridge uses deceptively simple techniques, such as chain sawing and scorching, to make vessels, sculptures and architectural works. These works are made from burr oak and elm. The burnt surfaces are scoured with wire wool and lightly waxed to produce a scintillating surface. The woods the artist chooses have a knobbly composition and the younger layers burn more easily because they are softer. When the soot is cleaned away, the finished surface has a battered look, suited to his severe forms which manage to combine humour and evil, The blackening, the fat rims, the dense weight and the pitted surfaces achieve a gnarled and ancient look.
Cloth Clay Wood, The British Council 1987
