Fresh New Direction for Glass Art at Foremost Sculpture Park

MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release

Fresh New Direction for Glass Art at Foremost Sculpture Park

This year's RE:FRACTION exhibition is the latest in a long running series of outdoor glass art installations at The Sculpture Park @Waitakaruru Arboretum, near Hamilton.

"Visitors to this year's exhibition are in for a real treat", says curator Tim Walker, "it’s a veritable feast of works by many of our finest practitioners in glass".

The exhibition builds on the strong foundation of the previous six years, but takes something of a new approach. In addition to a series of high quality and often very innovative, new works created specifically for the exhibition, Walker has also selected a feast of earlier or previously exhibited works by a range of glass artists throughout New Zealand.

RE:FRACTION showcases 33 sculptures by 20 pre-eminent New Zealand glass artists, many of whom have pushed boundaries to create their works. From the sensuous waves of Sofia Athineou’s work Eros and Karin Barr’s playful, iridescent Treasure Stones which shimmer amid the shale; to Pam Olver’s colourful blooms California Dreaming (image attached) and Jack haki Williams’s intricately carved glass masks (image attached); RE:FRACTION once again provides us with a rare opportunity to see New Zealand’s glass artists at their best in an outdoor setting.

Walker is quick to point out that glass is a notoriously challenging medium in which to work – part magic, part peril – and once finished, for the artist to then commit their sculpture to an unforgiving, albeit striking outdoor setting, takes courage. Sun, wind and weather all potentially play havoc with fragile glass sculptures; they also create drama and animate each work by unleashing colour and light. When nature and human endeavour harmonise, a beautiful alchemy occurs.

"The strength of this year's show is a tribute to the glass artists and the glass art community, which is very strong in New Zealand", says Walker. The prevailing economic downturn has had a major impact on New Zealand artists, with many unable to commit to new works given the uncertainty of sales. "So it might have been a tough year for RE:FRaction, but such is the commitment of this community to The Sculpture Park’s calendar event, they have come to the party and in fine form".

Walker, a long-time devotee of New Zealand glass art but a first time curator of RE:Fraction – also asked the organisers if he could select works from previous years, and include some of his favourite extra works by exhibiting artists. "Everyone was really enthusiastic about this year's show taking a slightly different course, and I think it’s really worked out well". This fresh approach makes the opening of RE:FRACTION – New Zealand’s only outdoor glass sculpture exhibition – even more special.

RE:FRACTION 2012: Magic and Peril opens to the public on 06 October and runs until 18 November 2012. New works created especially for the exhibition were automatically entered in to the Vazey Child Glass Award and the NZSAG Award, both of which will be announced when RE:FRACTION opens. Dr. Carole Shepheard is the Awards judge.

The Waikato Sculpture Trust facilitates innovative sculpture exhibitions at The Sculpture Park and each curator brings his or her own particular vision to the task. The Trust creates three curated exhibitions every year, two of which encompass the entire site, with at least 40 new works in each of the two major seasonal shows. At any time over 60 sculptures are to be seen within the Park. Each sculpture and installation is placed to fit this truly beautiful setting. Sculptures exhibited are available for sale and the commission received by the Trust helps fund forthcoming exhibitions.

--

www.sculpturepark.co.nz

NOTES TO EDITORS:
Tim Walker has played a key role in the significant change New Zealand’s Museum and Art Gallery sector has been through over the past two decades. Born in Auckland, his first job was at the Waikato Museum and from there he became the Senior Art Curator at the National Art Gallery in Wellington and later, a Director, of The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt.

Walker now works as a consultant, with a focus on driving cross-sector collaboration and building new relevance to and engagement with customers and communities. He has a Master’s Degree in Art History from the University of Auckland (1985) and was awarded an Honorary Degree in Creative Technologies from the Wellington Institute of Technology in 2009.

The Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboretum works closely with The Waikato Sculpture Trust, to provide a venue that is uniquely suitable for sculpture exhibitions. The Park has been the site for more than 20 sculpture exhibitions since it opened to the public in November 2004. The sculpture exhibitions in the Park are organised by the Trust Board.

ENDS

© Scoop Media