Tim
Murdoch
Bio
Tim Murdoch
Tim Murdoch is an artist whose works range from monumental hand-carved wood and plastic sculpture to kinetic installation. He graduated from Montserrat College of Art in 1989 and received his MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2003. His work has been shown at galleries and alternative spaces in Boston, New York and in Europe. Tim has received a Visual Arts Sea Grant from the University of Rhode Island, a Floating Art Grant from the Fort Point Artists Community, a Blanche Colman Award, and in 2011 was a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship finalist. His public art commissions include two for the Massachusetts College of Art and Design- a 24 ft. hand-carved plastic hanging sculptural installation for the college’s new campus center, and a 25 ft. kinetic wall piece for the Spoon Cafe in the college’s new dormitory. His most recent commission in 2012 is a group of hand-carved and welded plastic sculptures for the Constellation Center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2012, after twenty years living in Boston, Tim moved to San Diego California where he is concentrating on the development of new works.
Artist's Statement
Some of the earliest records of humans and life on the planet come through the observation of fossilized footprints. Unintentional but specific in nature, footprints are a direct personal connection to the earth, it’s a mark making process taken for granted. Like drawing hands on a cave wall, footprints tell a story of the people living on and moving through the land in great detail. In modern times we measure our consumption through totaling our daily use of carbon-based substances recognized in a carbon footprint.
“Sequestered” is made with the burnt char from a eucalyptus tree that was destroyed by a brush fire. The char was mixed with paper pulp and magnetite then cast into molds of a left and right foot, creating an enclosed circular pattern. “Process” is cast paper over a plaster mold of footprint patterns evolving from bare feet to trail running shoes back to bare feet. It’s mimicking Darwin’s evolutionary chart except reversing. “Golden Road” Is cast glass made from footprints in sand. Gold leaf is applied to the underside of each foot. The feet are cornered, facing the wall. “The ghosts of El Chaten” is made from a single rock cast in glass and aluminum. The rocks are piled in the formation of a cairn, a beacon to guide hikers on the trail. The colors reflect the icy mountains of Patagonia.
These works echo the idea of walking the earth. Like a ritual or a meditation it solidifies ones connection to place.