Sculptures made out of folded paper inspired by the 3D characters created in video games

The forms began in late 2016 when John created a cardboard model of a man he had painted many times. You could say the inspiration came from his 15 years in the games industry, working as an art director for Sony where he worked on big budget titles like Killzone and Little Big Planet.

Before that, he'd studied at Oxford University's Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing, later moving to Scotland to co-found the Glasgow Sculpture Studios and to lecture at Grey's School of Art in Aberdeen.

"I wondered what would change by taking him off the canvas and standing him in the real world," says John. "It never occurred to me to model him with clay or carve him, and I certainly wasn’t going to start casting. I think of myself as a painter and thought of this experiment as one that addressed the thoughts I had about painting."

Folded paper figure with blue and orange painted surface standing on a pink rectangular plinth against a white wall

Two geometric paper figures in muted tones, one standing and one seated or reclining on a concrete floor

Two pale paper figures stacked vertically on a white plinth, one seated holding a briefcase and one standing behind, against a neutral wall with dramatic lighting

Geometric paper sculpture of a standing male figure with faceted surfaces painted in shades of grey and cream, viewed from behind

"It had nothing to do with any thoughts about sculpture because I didn’t have any," he adds. "Perhaps, for this reason, he took it for granted that he would be folded from paper or card and that he was more a surface than a volume, more a shaped canvas than anything else. He was always, and importantly, a bit flat."

John continues: "So, I set about cutting and scoring and glueing card until I had him standing on the table. I was surprised by the result. He was occupying real space and, as far as my early question was concerned, what would change? It seemed to me that a lot had. At the very least the little guy opened up some possibilities which, in the years since then, I have begun to explore."

The forms begin life on the computer – much like you'd expect from 3D modelling software for video game design. "For all the low tech processing that follows their design, that link remains obvious and, in combination with the way they’re built, important," adds John. "They combine simple but time-consuming manual techniques with high tech design processes that result in what I’ve come to think of as a type of modern primitive."

A life-sized white paper sculpture of a standing male figure in a gallery space, with electrical outlets visible on the wall behind it

Red paper sculpture of a contorted figure leaning against a white rectangular panel, created by British artist John Clark

Geometric paper sculpture of a crouching figure with angular, faceted surfaces mounted on a white cubic plinth against a neutral background

Painted paper sculpture bust of a man with geometric patterning, mounted on a teal and white block pedestal against a plain wall

Aside from sculptures, John also creates narrative paintings, dripping with themes based on modern life. In his series Office, for example, we see people struggling to survive in the corporate world. Here, you can see the influence of the gaming industry yet again.

"The work proceeds with some urgency as if it were a hunt," he says. "Meanings percolate gently through the mixing; attaching and detaching themselves as the arrangements shift. I exert little control but take notice and what I notice I paint or build. I suspect that at the heart of the process is a question of identity, allied to a suspicion that the real world is as much a product of desire as it is an object."