Aprodigal son has returned to Whanganui with a container load of British rock.
Sculptor and painter Hamish Horsley headed overseas after studies at Ilam School of Art, returning briefly in the late 1960s to co-ordinate Whanganui's successful Serenity Arts Festival before leaving for further travels in South East Asia and India.
Although he has been away for almost four decades, Horsley says he has been back for visits and has stayed in touch with Bill Milbank.
Earthwise is the name of Horsley's current exhibition at WHMilbank Gallery, and the works symbolise shifting landscapes.
The biggest sculpture, Oracle, sits at the gallery entranceway.
"It is made of Portland stone, granite and macorcarpa," he says. "The granite is from China, so in a way the materials represent my travels, although I never intended it that way."
The sculptures inside the gallery are mostly carved in stone sourced from English quarries although they look like local stone to the untrained eye.
"Stone is stone to people who don't know it well, but you get used to the feel of different kinds."
One sculpture that really stands out as looking exotic was carved from Purbeck granite which can only be sourced from a small quarry in Dorset, says the artist.
Complementing the sculptures are Horsley's paintings, a relatively recent art form for him.
"I have always done drawing to get my ideas on paper, and I just started painting them."
Horsley spent 30 of his years abroad, based in London where he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1986, with a master's degree in sculpture.
He came back to New Zealand in 2012 to help care for his elderly parents who had moved to Thames. Now he lives on Durie Hill and has a studio in Bedford Ave, which is close to his old childhood home in Gonville. "It feels as if I have come full circle. Bill encouraged me to come back to Whanganui, and I'm glad he did."
- Hamish Horsley's Earthwise exhibition can be viewed at WHMilbank Gallery 1B Bell St, 11am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday.