Stuart Haygarth’s passion for collecting abandoned objects and an almost obsessive fascination with order are key factors in his work. For Haygarth finds beauty in the everyday discarded item and uses it to challenge our perceived notion of what is precious and desirable. One of his first pieces of work was called Tide in which flotsam and jetsam collected from Dungeness beach on the Kent coast were suspended in a spherical light sculpture ; these clear and coloured plastic objects were hung together to create a highly charged work evoking a lost world of abandoned objects. As Haygarth has said, ‘My work revolves around everyday objects, collected in large quantities, categorized and presented in such a way that they are given new meaning. It is about giving banal and overlooked objects new significance.

Haygarth gathers these insignificant objects on regular excursions to flea markets, car boot sales, beaches and the streets of London and methodically stores the objects based on colour, material or subject. The work takes several forms including functional objects, wall mounted vitrines and chandeliers. With the lighting works the discarded objects are illuminated like jewels making the objects appear like submerged forgotten treasures. But all that glitters is not gold and in Haygarth’s work there lingers some discomfort and uncertainty, as if we are forcibly made voyeurs of the intimate rituals of other peoples lives. He draws us in with childlike wonder and once captured, we are are left contemplating our own insignificance as we see former family items discarded at times because the owner is no longer alive.

Haygarth sees his years of collecting and studying our unwanted items as an opportunity to investigate our social behaviour and habits. He is currently working on a new series of work inspired by broken car wing mirrors collected from the busy roads of London . Haygarth is struck by the complex emotions and stories evoked by these shattered mirrors and the fact that modern society moves at such a fast pace creating greater risks.

Haygarth graduated from Exeter College odf Art & Design in 1988 and spent the first 15 years of his working life as a freelance photographic illustrator. His work took a different direction in 2004 as he began to use his lost and found memorabilia to create lighting installations. Since 2004 Haygarth has shown in various exhibitions in Europe, America and Asia. Recent exhibitions include Second Lives : Mixing the Ordinary, MAD, New York (2008), From Now To Eternity, Biscuit Building, London (2008), Gallery Libby Sellers, Design Miami / Basel, Florida (2007), Objet D’Art, Alexia Goethe Gallery, London (2007) and Tokyo Tide, Japan (2006).