Matt Hughes’ 2.8-metre-high whale tale Alexicacus.
From soaring sculptural environmental tributes, to gentle artworks demonstrating the need for peace, the depth, skill and diversity of Northland artists is strongly represented at the country’s biggest outdoor art event – NZ Sculpture OnShore – which opens to visitors on Auckland’s North Shore today.
Fourteen established and emerging sculptors from our region headed down to Operetu Fort Takapuna, the exhibition’s site, earlier this week to install their artworks, ready for the crowds to admire and enjoy.
Event organisers say they hope people attending the event will be in a buying mode, too. “This is the biggest fundraising event for Women’s Refuge NZ. All proceeds go towards helping women and children who have survived domestic violence, helping them to rebuild their lives.
“The need is greater than ever as sadly our rates of domestic violence are increasing year on year,” NZ Sculpture OnShore general manager Dee Paranihi said.
Since the event’s inception 27 years ago, more than $2 million has been donated to the refuge.
Ngunguru artist Paul Harris has taken the exhibition’s ethos to heart in his 3m-metre-high totara totem Inner Strength.
“The idea behind the work is about standing tall and strong. Its three pillars represent the support and strength that can be gained from coming together as a community.”
Purua artists Violet and Ralph Riegel also pay tribute to the exhibition’s cause with The Koru Gate. Reflecting the notion of new beginnings, the gate’s design captures the moment when new shoots emerge from the ground, reaching upward towards the sunlight.
Ivy, a dominating plant wraps itself around a gentle maple tree in Kamo artist Rod Cunliffe’s copper sculpture, Symbiosis.
“Here the plants work in harmony with each other, but in the natural world, such a competitor would grow to dominate and destroy its host. We need to search for cooperative relationships,” Cunliffe said.
In an increasingly polarised world, three arresting steel works reflect the importance of appreciating different perspectives: Ngunguru artist Joachim Kreitmair’s W.O.O. - Window of Opportunities and Otuhi artist Peter Brammer’s two works Here and Now and Sensory Intent.
“Sensory Intent attempts to provide an archway from the seen to the unseen. It enables safe communication,” Brammer said.
Full-time Ngunguru sculptor Jin Ling’s sweet terracotta figures Cat and Dove reminds us all of the need for peace.
“Now more than ever there is the need for understanding throughout humanity,” Ling said.
The beauty of Northland’s natural environment was always going to be a feature in the artist’s works. Matt Hughes’ jaw-dropping 2.8-metre-high whale tale Alexicacus is an ode to the beauty of the One Tree Point setting he wakes up to each day.
“This piece represents not only my love of nautical New Zealand, but also the respect I have for just how powerful and redeeming it can be to recognise the bigger picture,” Hughes said.
Emerging Whangārei artist Amie Redpath shares her passion for the environment and the role we all have as kaitiaki in Council of Guardians. Seven Oceanic custodians carved in andesite, red granite, serpentine, and black granite “declare the need to learn from our indigenous ancestors about connection to our whenua and oceans”, Redpath said.
These inspiring sculptures are among more than 130 works on exhibition by 100 artists from across the motu. Each of them thoughtfully placed by curator Sally Lush to maximise the 180-degree views of the Hauraki Gulf that the venue offers.
And if after seeing all the works, you need a bit of time out, why not befriend Whangārei artist Ross Mann’s Drinking Buddy.
“He’ll sit comfortably in any chair, at any table, on any deck or verandah to provide some passive and humorous company,” Mann said.
NZ Sculpture OnShore 4 – 19 November. Tickets and information from nzsculptureonshore.co.nz