Roger Hiorns’ sculptures have a seemingly straightforward, functional material presence, but this is always combined with an element which provides a sense of the imaginary, the poetic, or the esoteric. The tension between these two aspects is a vital part of Hiorns’ work. For Vauxhall 2003 Hiorns sunk a gully into the surface of the Sculpture Court at Tate Britain but, instead of water running down through the grating, a flame rises up from it. The gully’s specific function is subverted by the artist, as he explains “the fire transforms the reason for the gully to exist.” Transformation is a theme throughout Hiorns’ work. He has arrived at a formula which involves combining two basic elements, that transform and disrupt each other and are often materially very different: steel and perfume (used in another work also titled Vauxhall 2003) or steel and thistles (Intelligence and Sacrifice 2003). In each case one is entirely functional and the other something that carries with it the notion of the sacred. Furthermore, Hiorns often uses a material that transforms itself, such as copper sulphate which changes from a liquid to vivid blue crystals, or soapy liquids that bubble into foam. This element allows the sculpture to finish or conclude itself beyond the control of the artist. It also introduces chance or chaos into works which are often very formal, deliberate, and resolved structures.

Hiorns has had solo exhibitions at institutions such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Hammer Museum of Art at UCLA, Tate Britain, and Centre PasquArt in Biel. His work has been included in group exhibitions at venues including the Venice Biennale, MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Tate Modern, Walker Art Center, and De Hallen in Haarlem. In 2009, Hiorns was nominated for the Turner Prize for his critically acclaimed work, Seizure, a massive crystallization within the interior of a bedsit in a condemned South London council estate.

Courtesy of Tate