Spanning a material language of wood and metal Bainbridge’s work seeks a grounded presence in the physicality of the sculpted object through his enduring relationship to the natural body of the tree. By working with trees that have fallen where they once grew, his sculptures are a direct and intimate connection to land and place. Exploring the human condition and the need to protect ourselves in times of crisis, his works, carved from wood, often sit in relation to objects cast in metal as he looks to how our fragile and complex place within the natural world can persist and endure. Through the stripping of bark, casting of wood and hollowing of trunks Bainbridge explores what is imbibed within these trees throughout their lifetime. He looks to how their environment has shaped and changed them, and in doing so, reflects on our own place within the natural world. By shifting the narrative from strength and fertility to that of vulnerability and mortality, each sculpture offers a different lament on what it means to be human, to exist within a fragile and ever-changing ecosystem. By embodying the monumental presence of the tree into objects on a more intimate human scale, his works become quiet reflections on our relationship with the natural world and the importance of evaluating our place within it.
Bainbridge trained at Chelsea College of Art (BA Fine Art 2013 & Foundation 2010) and he has exhibited his work at: Make Hauser & Wirth (Somerset 2018/2024), Sarah Myerscough Gallery (London 2019/24), Ruthin Craft Centre (Wales 2018/2024), Informality Gallery (London & Oxfordshire 2022/24), Amelie Maison D’Art (Paris 2022/24), New Art Centre (Roche Court 2020), Oriel Myrddin Gallery (Wales 2019), Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft (Sussex 2018); Awards include: John Ruskin Prize Finalist (2024), Jerwood Makers Open (2019), QEST Scholarship (2019), Collect Open (Crafts Council 2018); Residencies: Make Hauser & Wirth (Braemar, Scotland 2023), Need Make Use (Pitt Rivers Museum 2017).
Solo Exhibitions
2026
A Thin Line, Sim Smith, London, UK
Prophetic Land, Galerie Amelie du Chalard, Paris, France
2024
Prophetic Land, Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
Soft Bodies, Dark Hearts, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2022
Idylls of the Field, Lemon Street Gallery, Cornwall, UK
2021
Shallow Lands, Informality, Oxfordshire, UK
Biophilia, Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
2019
Walking The Line, Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen, UK
2018
Walking The Line, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, UK
Outland, Egg, London, UK
Realising Landscape, The Space, CARO, Somerset, UK
2016
Objects of Utility, INKU, London, UK
Group Exhibitions
2026
A Place Between the Pines, von Goetz, Crowsley Park, Oxfordshire, UK
The House is Full of Ghosts, 8 Holland St, London, UK
House & Garden Craft Prize 2026, Sotheby's, London, UK
2025
Landscapes of Time and Memory, Fred Levine, Bruton, UK
Shake the cloud from off your brow, Sim Smith, London, UK
2024
This Country, Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK
Antidote, Informality, London, UK
Objects of Contemplation, Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
2023
Material Matters, Court Barn Museum, Gloucestershire, UK
Crafted by Nature, Radnōr, New York, USA
Material Beings, Cromwell Place, London, UK
2022
Les Trames du Possible, Amelie Maison D’Art, Paris, France
One Tree, SCP Ltd, London, UK
Collect 2022, Somerset House, London, UK
2021
Crafting a Difference, Jaggedart, London, UK
Outside In, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK
Signature in Wood, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK
From Nature, Informality, Oxfordshire, UK
PLATFORM, London Art Fair, London, UK
2020
Jerwood Makers Open, 20-21 Visual Arts, Scunthorpe, UK
The Natural Room, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK
Down To Earth, Jaggedart, London, UK
Common Thread, New Art Centre, Roche Court, Salisbury, UK
Jerwood Makers Open, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
Collect 2020, Somerset House, London, UK
2019
Pairings, Jaggedart, London, UK
Re-New, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK
Jerwood Makers Open, National Centre of Craft & Design, Sleaford, UK
The Art of Gathering, New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives, UK
The Art of Boro, 8 Holland St, London, UK
Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Space, London, UK
Thread: Contemporary Textiles, Rheged Centre, Cumbria, UK
Scorched, Sarah Myerscough, London, UK
The Living Material, London Craft Week, London, UK
Collect 2019, Jaggedart, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2018
Levelling Traditions, Make | Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, Drawing Projects UK, Trowbridge, UK
Piecework Collective, Ludlow Studios, New York, USA
Material Wood: Art & Design, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, UK
Fine Art Quilt Masters, Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, Vane Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Showcase, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
Cabinet of Curiosities II, Jaggedart, London, UK
The Home of Craftsmanship, Bourdon House, London, UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury, UK
Arbour, Jaggedart, London, UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, The Edge, Bath, UK
Collect Open, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Assortment X, Jaggedart, London, UK
Maker + Place, Sotheby’s, New York, USA
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, East Gallery NUA, Norwich, UK
New Truth to Materials: Wood, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Ditchling, UK
2017
Unearthed (film), Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
Through the Woods, Jaggedart, London, UK
Spoonful, Flow Gallery, London, UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 17, Jerwood Space, London, UK
Piecework Collective, 402 West 13th Street, New York, USA
Chromatic Geography, Craft Ontario Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Unearthed, Craft Central Gallery, London, UK
New Quilting, Rheged Centre, Cumbria, UK
MAKE, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2016
Showcase, William Morris Gallery, London, UK
Education
2013
Chelsea College of Arts, BA (Hons) Fine Art
2010
Chelsea College of Arts, Foundation Art & Design
Curatorial
2024
This Country, Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK
2023
Material Beings, Cromwell Place, London, UK
Residencies
2023
Make Hauser & Wirth, Braemar, Scotland, UK
2019
Thinking Residency, Harp Cottage, Wales, UK
2019
Artist House, Cold Press Gallery, Norfolk, UK
2017
Need, Make, Use Residency, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
Artist House, Cold Press Gallery, Norfolk, UK
Awards and Programmes
2019
QEST Scholarship: Woodturning & Sculpture, Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust
Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Arts
2018
London Creative Network, Cockpit Arts
2017
Hothouse, Crafts Council
2016
British Design Award: Craft, Elle Decoration
Best New Body of Work, Craft Central
Artist Talks
2026
Henry Moore and the Art of Making, Hannah Higham, Tamsin Golding-Yee, Max Bainbridge, Festival of Craft, Sotheby's, London, UK
In Conversation: Melissa Joseph and Max Bainbridge, moderated by Dr Lucia Savi, Sim Smith, London, UK
2024
In Conversation: Curator Ann Jones with artists Max Bainbridge & Abigail Booth, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2023
Material Matters x QEST, Court Barm Museum, Gloucestershire, UK
Ambition and Scale in Contemporary Sculpture, Cromwell Place, London, UK
Nature and Place in Ceramics and Textiles, Cromwell Place, London, UK
2022
Artist Talk, Lemon Street Gallery, Cornwall, UK
2021
In Conversation with QEST, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
Nature In Design, TOAST x Crafts Council, London, UK
2020
Artist Talk, BA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, Online
2019
In Conversation: The Art of Boro, 8 Holland St, Bath & London
Making Conversation: Forest + Found and Tanya Harrod, Jerwood Arts, London, UK
Textile Artists in Conversation, Ray Stitch, London, UK
Craftsmanship in Wood, London Craft Week, London, UK
2018
Landscape in Practice, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
Collect Open Makers in Conversation, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Next Generation Craft, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2017
Exhibition Tour: Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London, UK
How We Make Things, Q&A Hole & Corner, London Design Fair, London, UK
The Future of Objects, Q&A Forest + Found, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
2016
London’s Underground Artisans, Q&A Selvedge Magazine, V&A, London, UK
London’s Underground Artisans, Q&A Selvedge Magazine, New Designers, London, UK
Published Writing
2016
The Urban Woodsman, Max Bainbridge, Kyle Books
Teaching
2019/25
Experimental Quilt Making, West Dean College, Sussex, UK
2023
Raising the Bar: Lead Mentors, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
Textile Masterclass: Experimental Quilt Making, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2022
Raising the Bar: Mentors, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales, UK
2016/19
Improvisational Patchwork, Ray Stitch, London, UK
Traditional Hand Quilting, Ray Stitch, London, UK
Traditional Hand Quilting, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
2018
Quilt Making & Natural Dyes, Selvedge Magazine x Chateau Dumas, France
2017
Autumn Foraging: Natural Dyes, Botany, London, UK
Texture & Form in Wood, West Dean College, Sussex, UK
Autumn Foraging: Natural Dyes, West Dean College, Sussex, UK
MA Artists’ Teachers Scheme, Oxford Brookes, Pitt Rivers Museum, UK
An Ideal Syllabus, Milton Keynes Arts Centre, Milton Keynes, UK
Power Plant, Milton Keynes Arts Centre, Milton Keynes, UK
Experimental Object Making, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
Inside Out Kitchen: Heritage Craft Project, Milton Keynes Art Centre, Milton Keynes, UK
Experimental Maquette Making, Burberry Maker’s House, London, UK
2016
Spoon Carving, SMUG, London, UK