About the Artist

Keith Banks is a Scottish sculptor and maker whose work explores memory, time and the traces left behind by people, places and landscapes. Working with reclaimed timber, weathered metal, mirror, stone and found materials, he creates sculptures that blur the boundaries between archaeology, mythology and contemporary art.

For over eighteen years, Keith has worked with reclaimed materials through his company, Driftwood Interiors. Much of the driftwood used in his work is personally collected from Scotland's rugged coastline, where years of exposure to the North Atlantic have shaped, weathered and transformed each piece. Every fragment bears the marks of the sea—its erosion, movement and passage through time—and these natural processes become an integral part of the finished artwork rather than something to be concealed.

This intimate understanding of timber, erosion and craftsmanship forms the foundation of Keith's artistic practice. Rather than hiding the history of his materials, he celebrates it, allowing knots, cracks, rust, weathering and natural imperfections to become part of each sculpture's identity.

His current body of work, Lost Meridian, presents a fictional archaeological mythology in which mysterious artefacts appear to have been recovered from an unknown civilisation. The sculptures are intentionally ambiguous. They are not presented as historical objects, but as works that invite interpretation, encouraging viewers to question where history ends and imagination begins. The guiding philosophy is simple: Recovered. Not explained.

Keith's sculptures combine reclaimed oak, Scottish driftwood, rusted steel, cast metals, smoked mirrors and subtle light to create quiet, contemplative objects that feel both ancient and strangely contemporary. Rather than providing answers, the work encourages curiosity, allowing each viewer to construct their own narrative around memory, place and the passage of time.

Deeply influenced by Scotland's coastlines, industrial heritage and the ever-changing North Atlantic landscape, Keith sees the sea as more than a source of materials. It is a force that reshapes, preserves and carries fragments of history across time. The weathered driftwood gathered from beaches becomes both material and metaphor—objects transformed by nature before beginning a second life as sculpture.

At the heart of Keith's work is an exploration of what survives: the endurance of materials, the persistence of memory, and the human instinct to search for meaning in the fragments we leave behind.