Cardboard became Gluckstein’s main material during the onset of Lockdown. The versatility, specificity, and supply of cardboard as a material capable of stimulating textures beyond its use as a core component and its ‘zero waste’ quality makes it a direct, hyper-charged material for Josh’s art. He brings the raw emotions of endangered animals to life in true-to-size animal heads. A novel form of creative recycling, they reflect a sensitivity traditionally lost to the material’s ordinary use as packaging, and they contribute towards the protection of the animals they represent. For Josh, it’s important to appreciate the animals in the same way as you would in the wild, exemplified by their scale, facial expressions, and subtle earth tone colouring. 

“I’m in love with this material - it’s like drawing, painting, mark-making. I love the fact that I’m just gathering paper everywhere, and there’s subtle differences in the colour of it, in the depth of the corrugated sheets underneath, you can see the history of it, and I love that I’m using all of that in the sculptures - unmasking history. It just feels like such a rich material, but it’s so available - really anyone could get their hands on it and play around.” JOSH GLUCKSTEIN