Desmond Brett is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art (Sculpture) and Subject leader in MA Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts. He graduated from The Slade School of Fine Art with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1997 and an MFA in Fine Art (Sculpture) in 1999. Currently, he is A PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art, working on a thesis entitled ‘Unfixing Sculpture: Material in Continuum’ proposing that the sculptural object is paradoxically unstable despite being fixed. Awarded the Boise Travel Scholarship, Desmond is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is an artist member and studio holder with Outpost, Norwich.
Desmond’s practice explores the potential of materials through haptic processes that privilege modelling and forming. His sculptural output focuses on the physical properties of clay, plaster and other malleable materials in the creation of forms. Desmond’s sculptures allude to the territories of post-war architecture, civic sculpture and non-human thresholds whilst attempting to evade capture as recognisable things. Selected exhibitions include Territory, CLB Berlin (2019); We: You, Me Firstsite Colchester (2017); Fountain ’17 touring exhibition: Hull, London and Stoke-on-Trent (2017); Daybreak Safehouse 1 & 2 Peckham, London (2017); Thought Positions in Sculpture, Huddersfield Gallery (2017); Headless in a Beat Motel, York College (2015); Groundbound, The Minories Colchester (2013); Objectness selected by Peles Empire (2013) Outpost Norwich.