Master carver draws his inspiration from lake

JO-MARIE BROWN visits Lyonel Grant in the place which first drew him to traditional Maori arts.

Rotorua master carver and sculptor Lyonel Grant reaches out to touch a tall, spindly tree as he walks around the edge of Lake Okataina.

"Manuka. It's a very strong wood, great for carving small things like weapons," he says.

Nearby, a large kanuka tree is also singled out for praise, as Grant explains the history of carving at his favourite getaway spot.

"Okataina was the centre of canoe building and carving in years gone by. They used to build wakas in the hills and drag them down to the lake. Then later on they moved into meeting-house construction and then on to smaller art objects that could be sold to tourists."

Grant has been going to Lake Okataina, 35km northeast of Rotorua, since he was a boy.

At age 16, he began training as a classical carver, inspired by the strong sense of Maori culture surrounding his family home at Okere Falls and in the wider Rotorua district.

"I was just fascinated with the art forms and just wanted to be able to express myself in that way too. It's good to think the genesis of the art that I do is somehow in these hills here at Okataina."

For most of his career he has carved commissioned pieces such as waka and meeting houses. A 20-metre waka he carved in 1996 is in the foyer of the Sky City casino in Auckland, and another canoe crafted for the 150th Waitangi Day celebrations is on permanent display at the Rotorua lakefront.

But Grant's artistic curiosity has taken him beyond carving wood. His stone, bronze and glass sculptures are also in demand and will feature in his first solo exhibition in Auckland in March.

"You can't just reproduce what the old people created. You've got to find what's appropriate for today, what's progressive and what satisfies your own artistic urges. So what I've tried to do is move into different materials like stone to shake myself loose of that production mode."

In sculpting Rotorua's main Millennium project - two three-metre-tall bronze figures which stand outside the city's museum - Grant says he tried to create an artwork that was truly New Zealand.

He often pops out to Lake Okataina when he needs a break from his big projects, although he admits switching off is difficult for an artist.

"When it comes to art you're just continuously mulling things over in your head. But this is a pretty amazing place because you're separated from the hubbub of normal life.

"Apart from the deep history that exists here and the sense of that history, it's a place to gather inspiration."

After 28 years of carving and sculpting from his backyard workshop, Grant decided to stage his first solo exhibition so he could work outside the boundaries normally set by clients.

"You could say it's just art for art's sake, but I've come to the stage where I've got to do that now.

"So I'll be taking a bit of Okataina to Auckland - in a very oblique way of course."