Using an intuitive process of investigation McLardy's sculptures embrace and appropriate the use of traditional skills such as marquetry, cornicing and faux marbling in order to create a dialog between notions of historic purism and a modernist aesthetic. His work questions how craftsmanship can be utilised to challenge the inherent perceptions of objects of through an exploration of cultural notions of grandeur, value and authenticity.
In works such as 'Trojan Nude', 2009, 'Henry', 2009 and 'Albert', 2008 the reading of materiality is challenged by the clay-like quality of a ‘plastic manipulated’ ‘I’ beam cast in bronze or by the placement of a meticulously rendered faux marbled form lent against cast rubber. He embraces and subverts the values of both modern materials and the techniques of the artisan, drawing parallels between a Romantic and Rationalist sentiment.
In 'Strive to Set the Crooked Straight', 2009 a three meter red neckerchief acts as a focal point - its up-scaled informality distorts perceptions of other works in the show and creating an anti-monumental statement. The two walnut sculptures on which the printed fabric is presented appear as though separated halves of a large rectilinear object such as grandiose door way or a colossal frame. The neckerchief, being something worn by workers, artisans and craftsman is suggestive of the social idealism of artists and utopian visionaries such as William Blake and William Morris. In 'Before the Fall', 2009 two semi-elliptical curved ‘T’ sections are enveloped by the clean, sharp lines and edges of decorative plaster cornicing - creating a dialogue between the crafted and industrial form.
