Dallas Seccombe-Young has been creating his semi relief tactile wall sculpture for over 20 years and has more than 300 original works of art in collections across the world and New Zealand. Every piece has been crafted with sweat and blood and is a reclamation of materials from man and nature with some of his raw medium being many decades old.

Born in Hamilton in 1968 Dallas Seccombe-Young became interested in art and music at an early age. Dallas developed a keen eye for sculpture and graphic illustration during his high school years and he joined the Waikato Society of Arts attending classes in sculpture, printmaking and photography with older, and established artists. Dallas then completed a diploma in the arts and media at the Waikato Technical Institute, providing him with a strong foundation in the arts and influencing the unique work he is producing today.

Dallas is inspired by form and texture and his highly tactile works are the result of his fascination with and tendency to collect bits and pieces that might have a quality that he can find and work with. Dallas’ works could be deemed wall sculpture due to his creation of frames composed of recycled wood, metal bars and wire, which are as vital to his work as the images they support. Dallas creates both abstract and representational pieces, and an overriding feature of all his creations is his particular attention to balance and texture. His work is so lavishly tactile that the Bledisloe Trust of the Royal Foundation For The Blind commissioned a piece from Dallas because it could be appreciated by touch. Furthermore the materials Dallas composed this piece with were sourced from RNZFB renovations, thus creating a highly relevant and meaningful piece.

Dallas describes himself as ‘…committed to being original and breathing fresh life into what I fossick, hunt, gather and collect.’ This mission statement is conveyed through his highly original pieces which appear to be a fusion of carpentry and high art. His 2004 work ‘ Cheeky Bugger’ is quintessential Dallas; the title is revealing of the artists sense of humor, while the work is a portrait in the cubist style. Executed in vivid colours and framed with recycled wood and metal.

Dallas has work in private collections throughout New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.