Spanning a material language of wood and metal Bainbridge’s work seeks a grounded presence in the physicality of the sculpted object through his enduring relationship to the natural body of the tree. By working with trees that have fallen where they once grew, his sculptures are a direct and intimate connection to land and place. Exploring the human condition and the need to protect ourselves in times of crisis, his works, carved from wood, often sit in relation to objects cast in metal as he looks to how our fragile and complex place within the natural world can persist and endure. Through the stripping of bark, casting of wood and hollowing of trunks Bainbridge explores what is imbibed within these trees throughout their lifetime. He looks to how their environment has shaped and changed them, and in doing so, reflects on our own place within the natural world. By shifting the narrative from strength and fertility to that of vulnerability and mortality, each sculpture offers a different lament on what it means to be human, to exist within a fragile and ever-changing ecosystem. By embodying the monumental presence of the tree into objects on a more intimate human scale, his works become quiet reflections on our relationship with the natural world and the importance of evaluating our place within it.
Bainbridge trained at Chelsea College of Art (BA Fine Art 2013 & Foundation 2010) and he has exhibited his work at: Make Hauser & Wirth (Somerset 2018/2024), Sarah Myerscough Gallery (London 2019/24), Ruthin Craft Centre (Wales 2018/2024), Informality Gallery (London & Oxfordshire 2022/24), Amelie Maison D’Art (Paris 2022/24), New Art Centre (Roche Court 2020), Oriel Myrddin Gallery (Wales 2019), Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft (Sussex 2018); Awards include: John Ruskin Prize Finalist (2024), Jerwood Makers Open (2019), QEST Scholarship (2019), Collect Open (Crafts Council 2018); Residencies: Make Hauser & Wirth (Braemar, Scotland 2023), Need Make Use (Pitt Rivers Museum 2017). In 2014 he co-founded Forest + Found, an art collective with whom he works on public commissions, exhibitions and curatorial projects.