Paul Cummins MBE (born 26 September 1977) is an English artist from Chesterfield,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, who produces landscape installations using

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

flowers.

Education / work

Cummins worked as a maker of architectural models, and then studied ceramics at the

University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...

's College of Arts. He has colour associated

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

, and was one of the artists with disabilities commissioned by the London

2012 Cultural Olympiad The 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a programme of cultural events across the United Kingdom that accompanied the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. It included 500 events nationwide throughout the UK, spread over four years and culmina ...

, the UK Arts Councils and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

to produce works for ''Unlimited'', a programme celebrating disabled artists' work in the run up to and during the London

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

. Cummins conceived the monumental installation ''

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red ''Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red'' was a public art installation created in the moat of the Tower of London, England, between July and November 2014. It commemorated the centenary of the outbreak of World War I and consisted of 888,246 cerami ...

'' at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

, which commemorated the British and Colonial losses in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with 888,246 ceramic poppies. Cummins produced the flowers together with a number of assistants in Derbyshire, while the setting of the work was designed by theatre designer

Tom Piper Thomas Stephen Towry Piper MBE (born 24 November 1964) is a British theatre designer who regularly collaborated with director Michael Boyd. He became an associate designer with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2004. Early life Tom Piper was bo ...

. During the making of the work in his workshop, Cummins accidentally crushed his hand in an industrial roller. This left him requiring extensive surgery and resulted in the loss of a finger and use of his dominant hand. He said in interviews that was "overwhelmed" by the public response to this work, saying "I think that it is something everybody can relate to and they feel very personally about." However, he also received death threats for his work, stating that it was because the money was being donated to "war charities". In recognition of the success of the work, both Cummins and Piper were awarded the MBE in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Cummins' award being made "for services to art and First World War commemorations". Other clients for which Cummins has produced work include

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall is an architecturally significant Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan-era country house in Derbyshire, England. A leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, the Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style home was bu ...

and

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace ( ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough. Originally called Blenheim Castle, it has been known as Blenheim Palace since the 19th century. One of England's larg ...

. He is currently studying for a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the University of Derby, and lecturing in crafts. The university awarded him an Honorary Master of Arts in January 2015. He was awarded an honorary PhD by

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

in July 2015. In 2015, Cummins also displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show. His installation "Candy" stood 8 metres tall and was made up of over 2,500 porcelain tulips in a variety of colours. Proceeds from this are reported to be going to a charity whose cause affects 1 in 3 people, but was never named.

References

External links

Paul Cummins Ceramics
- Home page {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummins, Paul Alumni of the University of Derby Ceramics manufacturers of England English amputees English artists Living people People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire People with dyslexia Members of the Order of the British Empire 1977 births English people with disabilities British artists with disabilities 21st-century English male artists