Liam Tickner

My work is concerned with the notion of value, what it does to our aspirations and how we are confronted with it on a daily basis. The shift from social to material values, encouraged by marketing and advertisement strategies, has a profound effect on the desires people aim to fulfil. As a result the public lives under the illusion of a possible fulfilment through consumption.

The objects, photographs and installations I make often use synthetic materials, which bear strong resemblance to the surfaces of consumer goods and luxury commodities. By taking the consumer as a central figure in my work, I am tapping into common, everyday experiences. I am interested in the informed consumer, navigating the capitalistic onslaught, aspiring to do good, make sound decisions and yet always falling short and thus relying on the sweet nectar of commodified wellbeing.

Many of my works use water as a means to reflect on bodily functions and as a reintroduction of nature into the smooth artificiality of products. Water forming beads on smooth surfaces reminds us of advertising. Simultaneously it brings forth images of the body during manual labour or a wellness activity such as hot yoga or a sauna. Sweat and other bodily fluids come to mind when studying the surfaces of my works, suggesting a sensualisation and bringing forth the projections of the consumer's desires onto the coveted objects.