Dr David Paton

David is a lecturer and Module Leader in Drawing BA(Hons), an artist-researcher and a craftsperson with a specialism in Cornish granite. He is currently working on a commission for Leach Pottery, as part of their LEACH 100 centenary programme. He has been a practicing artist and stone sculptor since 1993, and for many years worked extensively in the public sphere, initiating a number of artist-led and socially engaged projects across the UK. David has been awarded numerous grants, fellowships, residencies and research posts for a wide range of projects throughout his career.

In 2005 David moved to Cornwall and began working with Trenoweth Granite Quarry, leading him to start a PhD in Cultural Geography titled ‘The Quarry as Sculpture: The Place of Making’ (2015). David’s research attended to the deep relations that grow over time between place, making, people and material. His PhD research has led to a series of explorations around the socio-economic and cultural impacts of Cornwall’s granite districts, such as post-doctoral work with the National Trust, the ‘Tracing Granite’ Groundwork commission (2017) and South West Creative Technology Network Fellowship (Immersion Fellow 2018/19). David has published widely on place, materiality and craft, and has recently initiated a ‘Crafted Pedagogies’ project, exploring alternative educational platforms and graduate mentoring, currently supported by Cultivator.