Roger Marriott works on another fine piece of "junk art". Photo / Paul Brooks
Roger Marriott works on another fine piece of "junk art". Photo / Paul Brooks
Roger Marriott's house is a home, a museum and a tribute to Roger's artistry and skill. He is a collector, a builder, a maker of fine things. And he is an artist, taking the mundane and making it beautiful. His work has appeared in Whanganui galleries and been sold topeople around the world.
There is an abundance of shiny brass, polished wood, Bakelite and glass. He loves the past and the things that inhabit it. So much so that even his sartorial preferences reflect an earlier age. You will have seen Roger around and noticed his vintage clothing and carefully selected hats.
His workshop is a busy place, with work in progress and parts awaiting a future. If he has a problem, it is sourcing bits and pieces, what others call junk, to create his art. He says too much valuable, or at least useable, stuff ends up at the dump, when it could be repurposed, recycled or mended and saved. If anyone can do those things, Roger Marriott can.
Some of Roger's work as displayed in 2020 at Red Door Gallery. Photo / Paul Brooks
What he needs are things like wind-up clocks, or anything clockwork, with all those cogs, gears and springs that make them work. Like everything he's after, they don't have to be working, or even complete. Also valve radios, primus camp stoves, oil/kerosene lamps, blow torches, soldering irons, sewing machines - with or without treadle and drawers, antique light fittings, small mechanical machinery parts, manually operated instruments, musical instruments, radios of all kinds, typewriters - and all things related by age and mechanics.
