Artist statement
My practice explores the interplay between sculpture, digital systems, and embodied interaction. I am interested in how spatial structures and technological interfaces can disrupt conventional relationships between viewer and object, creating immersive encounters where the body is both subject and generator.
Through my ongoing research project Encoded Presence, I use biometric sensors and AI to translate embodied data into sculptural artefacts, digital environments, and sensory installations. This process positions the body as an active archive, raising questions about memory, perception, and the ethics of AI / data driven art.
My recent installation Contact Points (Mirror Gallery, Arts University Plymouth, 2025) reflects these concerns by reversing the act of observation, here the artwork watches the audience, tracking and responding to their presence while confronting themes of surveillance, intimacy, and agency.
Bio
Paul Hillon (b. 1968) is an artist based in Plymouth, UK, where he is a current studio holder at KARST. He holds an MA in Fine Art Practice (2018) and a BA (Hons) Fine Art Practice (2014) from Arts University Plymouth, where he now works as a Technical Tutor. Hillon has exhibited widely in the South West, including KARST, Exeter Phoenix, and Stone Lane Gardens Sculpture Park. He is a recipient of the Academic Dean Award (2018) and the Student Corporation Prize (2014).
CV
b. 1968, Lives & Works Plymouth UK
Current studio holder at KARST
Employment: Technical Tutor Arts University Plymouth.
Previous employment: Technical demonstrator, Arts University Plymouth.
Freelance Technician & Technical Coordinator at KARST
Contact: mail (a) paulhillon.com.
EDUCATION:
2018 – MA Fine Art Practice – Arts University Plymouth.
2011 – 2014 BA (Hons) Fine Art Practice (1st Degree Hons) Arts University Plymouth.
QUALIFICATIONS:
2024 Advanced HE Fellowship
2023 City & Guilds Level 1 Mig Welding
2018 BTEC Level 3 in Education and Training
EXHIBITIONS
2025, Traces, Ruptures, Returns. group show, Mirror Gallery, Arts University Plymouth.
2025 The Dissolving of the Bedrock, group show, Under, KARST, Plymouth.
2025 Vitrine, Library Cabinet Gallery, Arts University Plymouth.
2024 TechExploration, Fenster Space, KARST, Plymouth.
2024 Pilot, group show,Project Space 1, Arts University Plymouth.
2023 WIP, group show, Cornwall Street Project Space, Plymouth.
2022 Presence in Absence, public sculpture, arts University Plymouth.
2022 Under Cut, group show, Under, KARST, Plymouth.
2022 Quintessence, Ashburner prize, Sculpture Park, Stone lane Gardens, Okehampton.
2018 MA group show, Make Space 5, Arts University Plymouth.
2017 Peepshow, KARST studio holder exhibtion. KARST Plymouth.
2017 Manifestations, solo show,Cafe Gallery, Exeter Phoenix, Exeter.
2016 Staging Post, group show, Inland Art Festival, Redruth.
2016 Entroducing, KARST studio exhibition.
2016 There Is But One Step From The Grotesque To The Horrible, Plymouth.
2015 Occupy, KARST studio holder exhibition, KARST, Plymouth.
2015 Editions, group open studio show, KARST, Plymouth.
2015 One Year On, group show,Regent building, Plymouth College of Art.
2014 Post graduate group show, Council House Gallery, Plymouth
2014 Graduate summer show, Plymouth College of Art.
2013 Trail, T.A.A.G Teignmouth, group exhibition.
2013 The Marmite Prize for Painting, group intervention. Plymouth College of Art,
2012 Illustrations purchased and published by Raging Swan Press, online.
2012 Namaak, Studio 11, Plymouth College of Art, collaborative exhibition.
WORKSHOPS & TALKS
Sculptural Workshop, PCA Young Arts Plymouth, 2018.
Making as Learning, Tate Exchange, London 2017.
Concept Design Using Maquettes, Plymouth College of Art, 2016.
AWARDS
Academic Dean Award, Best in Show, Plymouth College Of Art, 2018,
Student corporation prize 2014, Plymouth College of Art, 2014.
