Selection

It was Chris Soal’s buzz-generating 2019 show in London that grabbed the attention of the Dior team when featured in Forbes Magazine. “It has been an unbelievable experience, one I certainly didn’t expect to appear on my horizon, especially not at this (early) phase of my career,” said Soal.

Inspirations

In his sculptural pieces, Chris uses unconventional found objects such as toothpicks and bottle caps in conjunction with concrete and other industrial materials. Chris explains: “As an art student, I didn’t have resources to utilise more traditional, and rather expensive art forms like oil-painting, so I looked to what was in my everyday environment and what was in surplus. We often take the accessibility of these materials for granted, instead of asking: ‘What are the conditions that allowed for this material to be present in such abundance in our society?’. I’m often hesitant to say that I chose a particular material – it mostly feels like the material chooses me. There’s always a relationship with my body, a way of fiddling with the material (in the case of the toothpicks and the bottle tops) and the way the material imprints itself on me, both physically and conceptually. Not only are these materials readily accessible, but they’re embedded within the larger social fabric, which allows me to engage with concerns that I feel are significant to this time and place.”