Bradley Flynn
One man's trash is another man's treasure
Bradley Flynn in studio, 2019. Image courtesy of Stephané Conradie
Bradley Flynn is a self-taught artist living at the foot of Brandwacht mountains in Worcester. Flynn, born in 1982, left high school at a young age and started working as an apprentice electrician and handyman before following his passion and becoming a full-time artist. Since he was a young boy, Flynn has been fascinated by junk objects, building his own toy cars and figures from whatever he can find by sifting through family members' garages, collecting broken toys to dismantle, and combing the beach for washed-up treasures and bones. His passion for discarded items has not faded; he still sources his material from dumpsites, scrap metal yards and friends' garages. Using these discarded fragments, Flynn creates assemblage sculptures that tell a story of the state of our society, and of ourselves as emotionally complex beings, living in a world that we created.
Bradley Flynn, Split , 2020, found objects assemblage ,170 x 185 x 90 cm
"When you are at a dumpsite sifting through mountains of people's trash, you get a true sense of what our state of being is, as a society. My work consists of fragments of forgotten and discarded objects, material things that we use to fulfil an immediate need, but that, in the end, we discard. We treat our pain, problems, suffering, and love in the same way. We replace them with temporary, material fillers that distract us from what and who we really are. When I create a sculpture, I don't plan ahead nor work from any design. I work instinctively, picking up random objects, feeling where they would like to fit, then putting them in place. We are built from fragments of our memories, discarded emotions and forgotten dreams. Each one of us is uniquely fragile and complex. I try to replicate that complexity in my sculpture.”
- Bradley Flynn
Bradley Flynn, Constraint, 2020, assemblage of found objects, 91 x 60 x 30 cm
This exhibition is part of AVA’s ArtReach Western Cape programme, which serves to empower artists who don't live in urban centres and who therefore lack access to the infrastructure, peer pressure and markets that these offer. The programme, which is generously supported by the National Lotteries Commission and PGWC-DCAS, provides peer-mentorship followed by a solo show at the AVA Gallery.