WELCOME TO JAMES AND KELLY BLOG: January 2014

Sculpture in the Gardens

Sculpture in the Gardens opened to the public on Saturday 9 November 2013 and runs through to Sunday 16 February 2014. Twenty three large scale artworks are on display, creating a 2km trail through the Gardens that will provide a stunning summer of sculpture in a beautiful garden setting.

Oak Garden Fork

Jim Wheeler studied art and biology at university which reflects to his artworks. The bronze tanekaha leaf in the Permanent Collection is also his artwork.

Atta Mediae

The ant and leaf combination creates a natural rhythm of soft and hard elements

Pineapple Twists

Fine detail is a hallmark of Christine Hellyar’s work and Pineapple Twists is no exception. Hellyar pays homage to fruit that have become symbolic of the Pacific since they were introduced in the 18th century.

Tuna - New Zealand longfin eel

Bing Dawe echoes the gleaming spiral-like movements of the tuna in the base of the sculpture; a reference to the Archimedean screw which was a machine historically used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches and symbolic of the longfin eel’s downward spiral to extinction.

Bing Dawe's sculpture 'Tuna' was selected to remain in the gardens permanent collection by the Friends of Auckland Botanic Gardens.

Carving up the Land

An over-sized knife and prompts us to think about the impact that humankind, in its quest to grow, sprawl and expand, has on nature.

Split is a contemplation porthole through which we can admire the landscape. But, we are always aware that this beauty

Oh Crabby I do believe we're rather lost!

The artist of the artwork, Jamie Pickernell, described that “I feel so bullied by science and fact these days. Make believe stories and myths now haunt the margins of our ever increasingly mechanised world. So here’s one for magic realism.”

Alien Invaders

Alien Invaders are two sculptures of twining and twisting steel vines, which end in strange, beautiful, otherworldly, triffid-like flowers.

Monkey Puzzle Pagoda

Set amid the descendants of the ancient conifers of Araucariaceae in the Gondwana Arboretum, James Kirkwood’s Monkey Puzzle Pagoda mimics the pattern of its namesake’s branches and the form of the ancient tree.

Ariel

This large bronze work is a further development of Llew Summers’ fascination with winged forms; both for their simple beauty and for their angelic, or spiritual, resonance. In this case it is the sheer beauty of the wing form, abstracted from its connected body that has been the starting point for its creation.

Summers’ another artwork, Butterfly, in the Permanent Collection.

Over the Farm Gate

Carved into the gate’s bracing rail are Denis Glover’s onomatopoeic words that evoke the familiar sound of magpies warbling on a crisp rural morning, when mist is still lying just above the pasture and the farming day just is beginning.

Quintessential scenes of New Zealand’s farming heritage are carved on the posts. They depict the hard working associated with the way of life pioneered by settlers to this country.

The White Horse

Standing majestically, silver-white against the emerald hues of the landscape, The White Horse relies on the interplay of light and shadow, the result is dramatic with the sculpture’s silhouette as commanding as the mountainous landscape it resembles.

Rooks (國際象棋中的車)

Oliver Stretton-Pow excites the imagination with his castle-like series of ‘follies’, inviting people, especially the young, to lose themselves inside.

Influenced by icons of folly and rook-like towers in his family history, Stretton-Pow sees this concept as an investigation into longevity, steeped with references to family, resources and environment.

Oliver Stretton-Pow grew up surrounded by antiques and #8 wire contraptions in the Stone Store in Kerikeri, where his father was the last proprietor of the store and museum. He produced his first sculptures in the blacksmiths forge behind the Stone Store tea-rooms at the age of 14.

Weather House

no shelter from the storm is inspired by the folk art weather house. Instead of the cute alpine chalet where a man appears through one door to indicate rain or a woman on the other side announces sun, male and female shapes are ‘cookie cut’ from a weatherboard wall.

The single wall is an obstacle too high to see over and represents the barrier between present and future, while use of a domestic construction material provides grounding in our current experience.

The absence of walls and roof emphasises the unlikely prospect that man-made structures will provide shelter from flood, storm and fire as their intensity builds towards the end of the century.

Rusted mild steel

Seven fern and feather parasols are suspended between two gnarly yet elegant eucalypts, gently swaying and treating us to a unique view through the leafy canopy and passing clouds.

Jane Downes focuses on site specific sculptures and installations that are structural yet delicate, combining geometric, abstract and natural forms.

Home Sweet Home

When imagining a house made of corrugated iron, Jeff Thomson’s intricately woven Home Sweet Home probably doesn’t immediately spring to mind.

Jeff Thomson wanted to create a sculpture that combined the traditional craft of weaving with an unconventional weaving material – corrugated iron.

Flotilla 小船隊

Alterations

Alterations is informed by elements of architecture. Its structure carries recognisable features, like doors and windows, but also relates to its surroundings.

Alterations is a sculpture that can be changed around or partly rebuilt. It’s designed to be entered and passed through offering views out to the gardens.

Louise Purvis is the recipient of the McConnell Family Supreme Award of $10,000 for her work 'Alterations'

Tree Man

Tree Man stands proud displaying his mana, reaching up to the sky but with his feet firmly rooted in the earth. This work shows the morphing from man to land, respecting and protecting our environment working together as one.

Permanent Collection

This growing collection is a legacy of past sculpture exhibitions, of generous benefactors and the vision of garden creators who have incorporated art work into their horticultural work.

Each piece has a story and a connection to their garden surroundings.

This piece makes a welcoming statement and highlights the vital association of birds and gardens

Three stylised forms in the shape of our iconic native palm – the palms mirror the three nikau growing on the opposite side

The bronze tanekaha leaf graces the Visitor Centre courtyard

Butterfly

Inspired by the movements of a dancer. Its mood of celebration and ebullience welcomes visitors to the Gardens.

Turn is dedicated to the memory of George Rainey, one of the Botanic Gardens greatest supporters.

Waka is the gateway to the Threatened Native Plant Garden. It references the ancient totara tree growing behind this site and acknowledges its mana.

Camp site

Beside the lake, this brick boat is waiting to take to the water, while the small tent beside it provides shelter to the boatie (or visitor) should the weather turn bad.

Indoor Sculpture Exhibition

Complimenting the outdoor exhibition is a display of smaller works by sculptors that exhibited in both the 2011-12 and the current exhibition of 2013-14. Medal Art New Zealand will also show an exhibition 'Sprout'.