2013
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry; Regal foundry
photos by Andre Van De Ven
Stag Beetle
beetle . deer antlers
This is one of my favourite pieces. A play on the name of the Stag Beetle, I’m just having some fun with form and content. People take specimens of creatures they like and mount them on plaques, presenting them to be admired. Here is an amalgam of two such creatures. Better to ask a sculptor to recreate, than for us to take!
2002
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry
photos by Andre Van De Ven
Katydid
Cricket
Abstracted form of a female Katydid. This is one of my favourite sculptures and captures my aesthetic and art practice perfectly. Originally I made this sculpture with a shorter pair of legs, but then extended them a few years later. This work has been influenced by Art Deco aesthetics, the natural world and abstraction.
2013
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry
photos by Andre Van De Ven
Atta Mediae
Leaf Cutter Ants
Permanent home at Riverhaven Artland Sculpture Park, Clevedon
The Ants permanent home, within their own landscape of anthills, resides in the beautiful Clevedon sculpture park, Riverhaven Artland.
Born as a sight specific response to the Auckland Botanic Gardens 2013/14 exhibition Sculpture in the Gardens, Atta Mediae is a work primarily heralding industry and the merits of hard work. Along side this are ideas around team work and working toward a single unified goal or outcome.
Any successful team pulls on the strengths of its individuals. This idea of individuality is reflected in the unique designs sculpted into each Ants armory. The Ants bodies are put together more like armour than exoskeletons, though the two are reflective of each other as an exoskeleton performs the same function as armour. The armor also signifies the uniform; a device used to represent unity, identity and shared purpose.
The leaves impart a soft, organic aspect to the piece and signify the yin or feminine principal, thereby engendering a harmonic balance between themselves and the hard, masculine, robotic nature of the ants.
Seen as a whole, the rhythm of the soft and hard elements combine to reflect the balance of life as it marches ever forward to greater achievements.
2020
cast bronze
Crucible Arts foundry
Bug Lane
Weevil . Eyrewell . Shield Beetle . Huhu Beetle . Dung Beetle . Cicada . Ladybird
Made for the Auckland Botanic Gardens 2020 Exhibition, Sculpture in the Gardens.
2014
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry
photos by Roland Vink
Riding with the Wind
Abstracted leaves & Snail
This work is hoping to catch that moment of updraft as wind catches leaves and carries them upward. Amongst the leaves, a snail has found himself caught in the flight, forced to let go and go with the flow of Life. This work acts as an analogy for us all to let go of control.
Seen from front and back, this sculpture presents totally different views.
2015
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry
photos by Roland Vink
Grasslands Ant
Ant on blades of grass
Grasslands series. Playing with scale. Miniature sculpture, Magnified: small insects; bird life; frogs; creatures who live in grass.
2014
Cast bronze
Artworks foundry
photos by Andre Van De Ven
Atom Ant
Leaf cutter ant
Limited edition
2016
Cast bronze . volcanic rock
Flux foundry
Combat Beetle
Stag beetle
This work is part of ‘Celebration‘ which was made for the 2016/17 Sculpture in the Gardens Exhibition, Auckland Botanic Gardens.
I made these works primarily to foster good relationships between children and public art, to be able to access it in positive healthy ways. The work was set into locally sourced volcanic rock, and set low to the ground at children’s height and to child-friendly scale.
