Adrian Swinstead

Born in 1950, my early years were spent initially in South Africa where my parents’ work in the anti apartheid movement led to deportation and a move to Uganda.

A secondary education in England was followed by studying art at Hornsey College of Art and the Slade School of Art in London. The 70’s and 80’s were spent studying the rhythms of Indian classical music in Calcutta and Varanasi, which culminated in performing with Live Music Now, an organisation created by Yehudi Menuhin with performances in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and Glastonbury Festival in Somerset.

Return to the visual arts led to working with wood. After moving to my current workshop in Maulden Woods in Bedfordshire my interest in the history and genealogy of trees developed; increasingly this fascination has focused on Bog Oak and Bog Yew. These are trees that were growing between 3500 and 5000 years ago in what was then a densely wooded landscape and is now the fens of East Anglia. A change in climate flooded the landscape, felling the trees which were preserved initially by the anaerobic environment of water and then by the development of peat. Cherishing a piece of ancient tree is my work, my art and a privilege.