• Fri. Apr 19th, 2024

North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

UK inventor offers a window into his world of inspiration and ideas

Artist and inventor Dominic Wilcox will take a high-speed journey through his creative life so far from his days as a schoolboy in Sunderland to exhibiting in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum,when he gives a free public lecture next month.

The University of Sunderland lecture: How to Find Inspiration, Invention and Ideas takes place at 6.30pm on March 8, at the Sir Tom Cowie Lecture Theatre, Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s.

Dominic works between the worlds of art, design, craft and technology to create innovative and thought-provoking objects, with commissions by a diverse range of organisations including Paul Smith, Selfridges, The V&A museum, BMW Mini and Jaffa Cakes.

In 2009 he started an award nominated blog called Variations on Normal to showcase his sketchbook inventions and observations and his recent projects include the design of a pair of shoes with inbuilt GPS to guide the wearer home and a stained glass driverless car of the future.

An Art & Design graduate of Sunderland, Dominic received a Doctorate of Arts during the University’s 2016 summer academic awards.

He said: “I had such a great childhood – growing up in Sunderland influenced my creative life and is where I became the person I am today.

“I think creativity and humour are intrinsically linked and that people in Sunderland have a great sense of humour – humour can connect unconnected experiences and things in new and unexpected ways.

“I attended Art and Design Foundation at the University of Sunderland and a tutor – Charlie Holmes – opened a door in my mind that I didn’t know was there. It’s fascinating how these little interactions can change people’s lives.”

The University’s Public Lectures Series is a variety of interesting talks from notable speakers. The talks are free to attend and all are welcome.

Tickets are free but must be booked via this link