On June 27th, in the Reception area of the Mathematical Institute, Oxford artist Andy Bullock unveiled his most ambitious knot sculpture to date, a large floor-based work titled ‘All we ever wanted was everything / 24.02.22 (for Ukraine)’ constructed using 70 metres of metal trunking. As with all his knot sculptures they often reference issues of complexity with situations and people, the personal and interpersonal; focusing on what it means to be human.

In a first for the artist, Bullock will be inviting members of the recently arrived Ukrainian refugee community to contribute to the artwork by incorporating items of personal relevance. Bullock is reaching out to Oxfordshire’s Ukrainian community in a collaboration with Yulia Astasheva, a recent arrival herself from the Dnipropetrovsk region, where she still has close family living only miles from the Russian-occupied region.

The idea for the work came initially from a commission from Oxford Mathematics for Bullock to create an exhibition of his maths-related painting, photography and sculpture to be open to the public this summer. The core of his fine art master’s degree show last year was a creative examination and exploration of the topological subject of knot theory, and in particular the work of Clifford Hugh Dowker (1912-82) an eminent mathematician whose work is still studied today. “I find a poetic beauty in the mathematics I researched even though my understanding of the subject is virtually nil” said Bullock. “My final dissertation for my master’s degree examined the similarities in thought of mathematicians working in these areas and that of artists working in a more conceptual arena”.

In the lower ground floor space of the building there is an exhibition of some of Andy Bullock’s ‘knot variation’ paintings and photographs and a display of original handwritten manuscripts from Dowker’s personal archive alongside Andy's own sketchbooks, allowing an insight into the respective processes of mathematician and artist.

For further information:

Andy Bullock - @email - 07582 526957 - www.bullockstudio.com

Yulia Astasheva - @email