Sculptor to spider man

American artist Tom Friedman's meticulous sculptural explorations and repetitions magically transform the slightest and most ordinary of materials into beautiful art objects.

In a 12-year career he's made an exploding starburst out of thousands of toothpicks; cooked all the pieces of spaghetti in a 435g box and joined them together end to end to form a continuous tangled loop; made a perfect circle with stacked-together plastic cups; carved his own head from an aspirin and made a full-figure self-portrait from sugar cubes.

Given new form or shape by Friedman, even the most unappealing of materials acquire a new aesthetic. A chewed piece of bubble gum stuck on the ceiling and stretched to the floor becomes an exercise in tension and fragility; sifted house dust is rolled into a perfectly formed 2cm ball and a pubic hair inlaid in a precise spiral into a piece of partially used white soap takes on the appearance of a piece of delicately patterned ceramic.

For his latest London exhibition Friedman will be showing 16 new sculptural works including a tarantula constructed from nothing but hair, and a human figure made from the loosely assembled pieces of perforated coloured paper left after circles have been stamped out of them.

Tom Friedman, from Fri 8 Mar, Stephen Friedman Gallery, 25-28 Old Burlington Street, W1 (020-7494 1434).