Construction worker wins sustainability award for artwork dedicated to dad

A construction worker who makes art from things he finds in skips has been named as the winner of a sustainability award.

Michael Connell, 68, of Daneby Road, Catford, earned his environmental sustainability award for best recycled material in the annual competition organised by the construction magazine, BUILD.

Mr Connell has been recycling discarded blocks of polyester, broken glass and scraps of wood to create works in the shed in his back garden for years.

Mr Connell said: “I was working on a construction job about 20 years ago and there was loads of timber that was going to go to waste.

“So I asked the agent and they said I could have it. I brought it all home and built my first shed.

“Eventually it started to rot so I refurbished it, and over the years the shed has evolved.

“It has a mind of its own now.”

The shed is also a gallery space filled with other works Mr Connell has created from recycled materials.

He said: “It’s art within art.

“It saddens me when I pass a skip filled with paint, timber and polystyrene because I know it’s going to take forever to decompose and will clog up the environment.

“I know I can make something useful from it so that’s how I do my bit for the planet.”

The structure in was runner-up in Channel 4’s Shed of the Year contest in 2016 and is also a local landmark, listed as part of the Catford Arts Trail.

Mr Connell said: “People in Catford know me now. If anyone in the area has materials that are going to waste they bring them to me to use.”

Mr Connell moved to the UK from Barbados with his family in 1965. He studied art at Waltham Forest College in the 1980s.

One of his pieces, Trapped, went on display at City Hall in 2003, marking the 170th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Mr Connell has dedicated the shed to his father and uncles – The Connell brothers – who moved to London as part of the Windrush generation. The gallery will be open to the public every weekend in October during Black History month. 

Mr Connell said: “It’s my way of keeping the family name alive.”

Currently in remission from cancer, Mr Connell said that working in his shed is a form of therapy for him.

He said: “Having cancer really opened my eyes.

“My dad had suffered from the same cancer. I have two crucifixes in the shed in memory of him.

“He always wanted to be an artist but he never did it. When I work there I feel closer to him.

“One of the best compliments I ever got from a visitor was that my shed reminded them of a cathedral.”

Pictured top: Michael Connell collecting timber for his artwork (Picture: Michael Connell)