29 September 2005

Dramatic artworks to feature at New Lynn

A 33m concrete bas relief wall will be one of the outstanding artworks at Waitakere's New Lynn War Memorial Library which will open on October 18.

The wall is part of 330 square metres of art wall integrated into the design. Other features include a "poppy seat" and nine metre tall textural wall by Te Kawerau a Maki, the tangata whenua of the city.

Titirangi artist Iona Matheson was the lead artist who chose various artworks to be individually created by local artists.

Glen Eden artist Sue Bridges designed the bas relief wall on the southern side of the library and also "the poppy seat."

The overall theme of community in the bas relief wall is represented through the native flowers of the different ethnicities in New Lynn, such as the poppy, hibiscus and lotus. "Sue also had the Crown Lynn history of the area in mind," says Ms Matheson.

"It is in a neutral colour, to allow the light to play with the shadows. It will be quite dramatic - even at night," she says.

The "poppy seat" in Memorial Square is a memorial to fallen servicemen and women.

Tailored for children, a six metre long stained glass, featuring local native flora and fauna, will be inserted in the library's western wall. Ms Matheson says the incorporation of flora and fauna by artists Phillipa Crane and Danny Rowlandson, helps direct attention to the Waitakere Ranges beyond the library.

Ms Matheson's own direct contribution is a "flock" of seven kauri-leaf and paper-clay birds suspended from the ceiling. "These three dimensional sculpted birds will navigate children into their area of the library. They will be different heights and angles and will include native birds," she says.

New Lynn Library is the second of Waitakere's new libraries to be opened in just over a year.

Iona Matheson: profile

Ms Matheson has previously assisted lead artists Kate Wells and Deborah Bustin on the Massey Library moa and the Taniwha of a thousand hands but the opportunity to find artworks for the library in New Lynn's Memorial Square is her first lead artist project. Originally from Wellington, she moved to Titirangi when her degree in craft design led her to Unitec.

ENDS

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