OVER 30 vibrant sculptures will be brightening the walls of Gallery Pangolin in Chalford from this week at Jon Buck's first one-man show for five years.

Odd Birds and Other Selves is a dynamic exploration of archetypal images of birds, beasts and man, creating a world of powerful symbolism.

The magic of drawing, the representation of the three-dimensional world in simple marks and lines, is at the heart of Buck's sculptures. Once drawing becomes object, vital elements of the drawing come to life again, drawn and incised into the surface of the form where in turn they emerge in three dimensions.

Pink Lady, a modern Venus figure plump with sensuous softness and fecundity, is carefree, cheeky and confident, exulting in feminine freedom. Spikydog, by contrast is a weapon-like creature with a body honed down to a three-legged form, peppered with sharp pins, which suggest the fierceness of the beast within.

Although the stubborn stance exudes masculinity, an underlying vulnerability and playfulness persist. Bird images have always been a constant in Jon Buck's sculptural vocabulary and the exhibition includes many new explorations of this primal image.

In Double Take, two birds are apparently courting, or are they? Buck plays with two and three-dimensional illusions, beaks and eyes change with the viewer's focus to confuse and confirm.

These, and much more, are on display from Monday, November 7 until December 21.

Gallery Pangolin, at the foundry in Chalford, is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm and Saturdays by appointment.