T.R.I.G - how near, how far?

In typical fashion, Graham Bennett looks to challenge what balance means in our lives, the actions and relationships with the earth and with others.

Jeff Thomson is unquestionable one of New Zealand’s most popular contemporary artists. However, this is not suprising as his work with corrugated iron certainly holds historical connotations to the country’s cultural identity. This, and his quirky almost comical use of the media, lends itself to the nation’s sense of humour.

Thomson was born in Auckland in 1957, and attended the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland from 1978 to 1981. He went on to receive a Diploma of Teaching in 1982 and taught secondary school for four years, but later turned to sculpting full time.

His works are unmistakable. Take for example, the Holden HQ station wagon at Te Papa, and the Gumboot in Taihape [pictured ]. Thomson has been Artist in Residence at several establishments, including Sergeant Gallery in Whanganui and University of Otago in Dunedin. He has also featured in a number of outdoor sculptural exhibitions, including each of the past headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF exhibitions. His works are picture below: (more…)

Whangarei–born Charlotte Fisher is a graduate of Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1980 at Auckland University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1989 at Elam.

Fisher lives and works as a practising sculptor in Auckland, exhibiting regularly and contributing works to public and private collections around the country. In August 1998 the Whangarei Art Museum mounted a survey exhibition of her work. Following this, she was involved with Sculpture 2001, a millennium project aimed at installing eight new sculptures in the Auckland Domain grounds. Her work Arc was completed in December 2004 and is situated on Centennial Walkway.

Fisher creates her organic, abstract forms with bought, salvaged or donated demolition or recycled wood combined with found natural objects. The resulting works are simple, primitivistic explorations of form, scale and solidity.

Charlotte is returning to headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF for the second time. Her 2007 work, The Sea Around Us: Hole, Slot, Bearing, Sighting, Slit 2007 is pictured above.

Bio courtesy of Art Associates:

Paul Cullen was born in Te Awamutu in 1949. He attended the University of Auckland and graduated with a B.Sc. in 1971, before continueing on to study Fine Arts at Canterbury University, where he completed a Diploma of Fine Arts with Honours in Sculpture.

In 1975 Cullen held his first solo exhibition at the Centre Gallery Christchurch and was a finalist in the Hansells Sculpture Awards, held in Masterton at the Wairapa Arts Centre. Since then he has exhibited throughout New Zealand and internationally, including Avize, France, in 1996 as the recipient of the Moet et Chandon Artist fellowship.

In 2000 Cullen completed his MFA (1st Class Honours) at Auckland University. In 2002, he received a MIT Research grant to attend Documenta 11 in Kassel, and Manifesta 4 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was also selected as a Judge of the NZILA Biennial National Landscape Awards.

Paul Cullen featured in the very first headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF exhibition in 2003 with ‘Observatory” [pictured]. Most recently Paul has bacame a  Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts, at AUT University, Auckland.

Bio adapted from content from http://www.artagent.co.nz/paulcullenintro.htm

headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF artist Stephen Mulqueen has spent a great deal of time acquainting himself with Waiheke working on his culminative exhibition Making History as the 2008 Artist in Residence at Waiheke Community Art Gallery.

Arriving on Waiheke in early June, 2008 Mulqueen quickly set about researching the histories of places, place names and natural histories responding to the unique location of Waiheke Island and wider Hauraki environs.

The artist says “on arrival to the island in early June (2008) my broad plan was to find a way into the Waiheke/Hauraki fabric via the aperture of ‘place’ as named histories. I had been given an introduction to the work of Historian Paul Monin through my Dunedin friend and Irish Historian Rory Sweetman prior to the residency and had read ‘Waiheke a History’ as a prelude to my arrival. However I discovered Paul’s more recent publication ‘Hauraki Contested’ during my first weeks here which I readily consumed and it is from this work that I have been able to draw out a poetic metaphor regarding the shared bi-cultural history in Hauraki – Toroa/Albatross, which has become a major focus for this exhibition.” (more…)

Born in Christchurch, Pauline Rhodes lived in Wellington, Westport and also abroad in Nigeria and England before returning to Christchurch in 1970. She obtained her Diploma of Fine Art in Sculpture at the University of Canterbury in 1974.  Rhodes became one of New Zealand’s early environmental sculptors when in the mid 1970’s she began working outdoors and incorporating elements of nature into her work. Exhibiting in galleries throughout New Zealand, Rhodes also holds the distinction of being the first recipient of the Olivia Spencer Bower Award in 1987.

Her alterations of the landscape are often colourful, gentle and temporary, frequently opting to work in remote, isolated and seemingly uninhabited land, placing rods and other materials that she has brought with her to the site. Rhodes photographs her works before removing the display, and may at times be the only eyes to see the physical sculpture.

Pauline Rhodes exhibited at the last headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF exhibition, erecting a colourful sculpture entitled ‘treebody’ from aluminium tubing and fabric high in a tree overhanging the coastal walkway. [pictured above] (more…)

Christchurch based artist and Lecturer in Sculpture at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts Louise has made the visit back and forth from Christchurch to Waiheke Island since being selected for headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF 2009 in June 2008.

Showing her dedication to site specific sculpture Palmer visited the Church Bay walkway where headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF will be taking place on two occasions before making a final decision on where on the track she would cast natural fauna and in her words “cast from the landscape itself”. These castings will be transported back to Christchurch where the work will come to fruition ready to be re sited in early January.

Louise Palmer and the team at headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF would like to thank Roy Carroll for his generosity and dedication helping Louise on site.

Growing up in Auckland and attending the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts Brydee graduated in 1999 with Bachelors in the top of the painting section.

In 2001 the world was this artist’s oyster and she moved to Japan undertaking what she describes as “my own residency” - living in Japan for 2 years as a registered alien, teaching to support her studio practice and exhibiting locally. In 2003 travelling to Mexico she undertook a similar self initiated program concluding a substantial solo exhibition Fresco at Galeria de Arte Joven, Difocur - Centro Cultural Genaro Estrada, Culiacan before returning to New Zealand and completing a Masters degree in interdisciplinary practice at Elam in 2006.

Dedicated to exploring relationships and collaborations with fellow artists Brydee is a member of various groups and projects such as ground roots collective Nature’s Ninja’s and ‘Hello Lamb Project’. The artist states “It is my aim to sow the seeds of collaboration and exchange into the future and enjoy the undercurrents of ideas and friendship between the participating artists”. (more…)