Stuart Sandford

A series begun in 2018 of cut and re-assembled Polaroid “instant sculptures”, invoking ideas of memory, time, place and intimacy. For a full list of works from the series email studio@stuartsandford.co.uk.

The Wrestler/s is inspired by the lost Greek bronze sculpture The Wrestlers (also known as The Two Wrestlers, The Uffizi Wrestlers or The Pancrastinae). This updated version emphasises the inherent sexuality and tension of that form by repeating the figure (the same model was 3D scanned in both the "top" and "bottom" positions to create the work), giving him both dominant and submissive roles.

More info coming soon.

A new new life-size sculpture building on the Sebastian series and referencing selfie culture, hookup apps, and the idea of influencers and followers, Adlocutio (Sean Ford) is created using 3D scanning and sculpting technologies and working with the adult actor and model Sean Ford.

In ancient Rome the Latin word adlocutio means an address given by a general, usually the emperor, to his massed army and legions, and a general form of Roman salute from the army to their leader. The adlocutio is one of the most widely represented formulas of Roman art and is usually denoted by the outstretched right hand of the figure, signalling power and authority, divinity and devotion.

A new book chronicling the making of the work was released May 9th 2022 and is now available.

The Ouroboros is an ancient Egyptian symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; (oura) meaning "tail" and (boros) meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail".

The Ouroboros represents the perpetual cyclic renewal of life and infinity, the concept of eternity and the eternal return, and represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth, leading to immortality, as in the Phoenix. The current mathematical symbol for infinity - may be derived from a variant on the classic Ouroboros with the snake looped once before eating its own tail.

A new series of 36 works focusing on Los Angeles and Mexico City, the two cities I've had the privilege of calling home over the last decade. Commissioned by the New Collection and titled Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX, this new series builds upon my ongoing series of Polaroid Collages (2018-TBA) whilst refining my approach to the process and highlighting the similarities and differences, connections and tensions inherent between the two cities, as well as my relationship to them both and the people and places that hold special significance to me in these two incredible cities. These works exist as both unique collages and enlarged 50 x 50 cm / 20 x 20 in archival pigment prints in editions of 3. A book of the series will be published by Men On Paper Art in April 2023. More info on their website.

Sebastian is a unique 8 foot (243 cm) stainless steel statue created using state of the art 3D scanning and printing technology, marrying together the ancient and the contemporary in process and concept. Taking its main inspirations from the Greco-Roman depictions of the boy/god Antinous, the Christian saint and martyr Saint Sebastian, and the myth of Narcissus, all coupled with the current obsession with the "selfie”, this major work is both an exploration of contemporary representations of the masculine form and a comment on the icon and its place in contemporary culture.

The work also exists in numerous further incarnations (including an augmented reality version via SnapChat) echoing the obsession of Emperor Hadrian (Antinous' lover) who, upon the death of the boy, commissioned more sculptures and likenesses of him than any other figure in classical times and deified him into a god.

42 Polaroid works executed in and around Los Angeles throughout 2017. 10.7 x 8.8 cm each, signed and dated on verso, unique. A limited edition artist book was published of these works on November 1st 2017.

Selected works in a range of mediums dating back to 2009.

A suite of forty-two unique Polaroids taken whilst artist-in-residence at Tom of Finland Foundation in Echo Park, Los Angeles in 2014. 10.7 x 8.8 cm each, signed and dated on verso.

A new limited edition portfolio in a bespoke leather case will be released in 2020 to mark Tom’s centenary.

Cumfaces
12 colour photographs
Dimensions variable

A series of 12 selfies each submitted by the model via an open call taken on the brink of orgasm. A limited edition portfolio of this series will be published in October 2019 and is now available for pre-order via my shop.

Anonymous Landscapes is an ongoing series of photographic and video works documenting urban and rural public spaces around the world where men have sex with men. In the age of Grindr and hook-up apps, as well as COVID-19 and MPox, many of these spaces have been lost and alongside them the connections forged, be it simply for a fleeting moment of pleasure or, perhaps, for something more enduring.

A suite of 35mm colour photographs dating from 2004-2007, dimensions variable.