Roger Ackling

Roger Ackling created sculptures using a ritualistic and repetitive process that remained constant across his 40 year career. Using a small, handheld magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto discarded scraps of wood or card, he seared freehand lines across the surfaces to create quiet and contemplative interventions. His process took place entirely outside, often at the site where the wood was found, with Ackling’s sculptures acting as records of this specific moment in time and place. 

Ackling was born in Isleworth, London in 1947. He studied at St Martin’s School of Art, graduating in the 1960s alongside artists like Richard Long and Hamish Fulton, who together looked to move their artistic practices outside of the studio. Ackling taught for many years at Chelsea College of Art, London. Ackling’s works have been exhibited extensively worldwide including major solo exhibitions throughout Europe, USA, Australia and Japan and in group shows at Tate Britain and Tate Modern; Serpentine Gallery; Kettles Yard; Stedelijk Museum; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, amongst others. His work is part of many major public collections, including the Arts Council of Great Britain, the British Museum, London, Tate, London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. He lived and worked in Norfolk. Ackling died in 2014, aged 67.