Cover story

I was interviewed by Simon Gast about Kanuka Sphere featured on the cover of Orion. The interview is featured here:

What inspired this sculpture, and how was it constructed?

Kanuka Sphere was made using natural materials found at the sculpture’s site - in this case, the remains of dead kanuka trees that had been flooded by a lake. Because these trees have long, thin trunks, we were able to push their ends into soft clay in parts of the lakebed formed by retreating glaciers eons ago.

The sphere’s setting is spectacular. Where was this photograph taken?

The sculpture was created and photographed near Mount Aspiring National Park, which is in the Southern Alps of New Zealand’s South Island. We live in Wanaka where this and many of other sculptures are made. This place is, in our opinion, one of the least spoiled and most beautiful mountain regions in the world.

What sort of feeling or idea do you hope to inspire in the sculpture’s viewers?

The half sphere of criss-crossed sticks was designed to reflect and achieve a full sphere referencing Earth. The feeling or idea embodied in the work is that Earth’s environment is a network of fragile, interconnected systems, all of which are integral to the whole system. If one part fails, the integrity of the whole system is compromised.

Circles, spheres, and continual shapes are a strong theme in much of your work. Why? What attracts you to those shapes?

Both the use of materials that return to nature and the circular forms of many of the works echo the cyclical processes that emerge from nature’s operating principles. The human model of progress relies on the destruction of natural systems, with our linear take-make-waste mode of living; the solution is to build new systems that are cyclical, and thus compatible with nature. The “circular economy” of the art is an attempt to show this.

What are you working on now?

For the last two years, we have been building a new body of work for exhibition, titled Watershed. It will be exhibited at McClelland Gallery in Melbourne, Australia and later in New Zealand. This work has been an exciting development for our artistic practice. Philippa and I will focus next on completing our Fine Line project, a twenty-year effort to build twelve sculptures on high points around the world, forming a symbolic line around Earth.

Orion cover