So some may wonder if there is any significance in having a special “Mahara Sculpture” section over and
above the fact i have moved to the Coromandel and am now to be found at The Mahara Sculpture Park and
Pottery.........
Well it took a while to develop a “sculptural significance” here so to speak, get a feel for the place, and
figure on how i may add to what was here, (other than being rather good at raking leaves). The first thing was
accessing more stone than what i had brought with me, lack of funding meant it had to be local which
indicated Hinuera Stone.
I still had a some Oamaru Stone to play with after my seeming long hiatus from sculpting, and able to bring
just enough to get back in the flow, and this time with a focus more than before............ and that was to
impact the local “energies” with the results of my sculpting, tailoring what i created to this place specifically,
(you can interpret this as you will, it is not possible to get it wrong :-)
I had succeeded at this approach with various previous commissioned works so this avenue was the key
direction i set for myself. Is it working?? i assume so, there are indicators from time to time with there not
really being any need to “know” if it is working, it’s like building a life you just do it. They are listed fairly
much in order of creation with the first collection called the “Growing into Place”, specifically created for
this place with certain qualities in mind. On the left will be the various other series as they happen, latest last
but by no means least.
The various Series are displayed in “The Fence Post Gallery” in an outdoor gallery at the Mahara Sculpture
Park.
Click images for larger versions.
This is the first piece of Hinuera
Stone I sculpted, a test piece to
see if it would take a nice flowing
curve and the like. It did.
Carved out of a slice of Oamaru
Stone. The idea was to create
an elemental spanning the land
and waters while encompassing
growth and unfoldment.
A hefty slab of stone this,I am still
exploring smooth flows and clean
edges possible using along with the
shadows that define form especially
important in such a bland stone as
Hinuera Stone.
This work was an experiment
carved from a quite soft corner
broken off some slab or other, the
theme water. it is mounted on a
rod and tends a bit incongruous.
This was a simple attempt at a
directional arrow unfortunately
not all that obvious.
Another work lacking
intended deep
significance..... but really if
you just peel back the skin
there is the light of the
matter.
A wall hanging, nice
colouring’s in the stone and
the sculpture that decided
me I could work with
Hinuera Stone.
A play with flow in stone, a
soft sample so I used it to test
the durability of the coating I
use on the stone and put it in
a damp place on the Sculpture
Walk.
Another softer piece of stone
and now out on the Sculpture
Walk, an experiment with the
geometric.
This has significance in that it is the
pattern I used for creating the head of
the Labyrinth at Spring Farm. Very
intricate to walk, very head clearing
with the original being 16.5 metres
across. Link here (it goes to a
separate website) for the Labyrinth.
Work done in Oamaru Stone.
This an odd shaped piece of stone
sculpted with a simple pattern to
indicate the creative play (two
Koru) within the one utilizing the
idea of ripples in a pond (of life).
The beginnings a hole that
came to partly resemble a
figure yet encompasses the
geometric and yet to be, a tad
mixed up maybe.
These two are slabs of the
same block, a very soft Oamaru
Stone that didn’t allow for
much in the way of detail.
Just a quickie on a random
slab and as with all the
sculptures ultimately you
supply the meaning.
A fun wee sample sculpted
especially for the Sculpture
Walk, quirky and a fine use
for bits of softer stone.
