Saturday, November 25, 2006

Care

I have a lot of time for Motueka sculptor Tim Wraight and his work. In fact, I've been trying to photograph a series of pillars he carved for the Nelson Information Centre half a dozen times, but have not had any satisfactory results yet.

What amazes me is when I see his work, I can feel the care he takes, the passion, the patience, and the love he puts into each piece. His lines are precise, and yet I feel his breath breathing spirit into each piece of wood, each piece of stone as he chips/chisels away (are those the right words?); much like the way a mother gazes at her sleeping baby; much like the way I caress my warp chains and smell the wool. I have never had this level of connection with any art work before, not even with my own. And the word "care" keeps coming back.

I need to read more on photographing art works, and I'm afraid that won't happen until after the exhibit, but I must give you a sneak preview.

[Erratum] I should have asked him about this first, but the last photo is a work by someone else, but displayed at his gallery garden. I hadn't known him to work with media other than wood and glass, and this design is unusually naturalistic for Tim. Pardon me, mate.

7 comments:

  1. I love the long vertical one of what looks like wood.

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  2. Nikon, the wood panels that Tim carved are attached to steel pillars about 3- or 4-stories high; each of the 7 pillars has 2 panels, so in all 14 different designs based on flora and a couple on fauna of New Zealand. Each wooden panel is sandwiched at the top and bottom by molded glass, and each glass design is made to match the wooden panel design. The guy is a genius, and each one is done so beautifully. I just can't get the colors right because these are outdoors, and that's why it's going to take a few more trips at least.

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  3. Thank you, Photo-effe. I need to learn to convey the sharp lines of the carvings and the soft texture of the wood, though. It's a long learning process.

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  4. beautiful photos = thanks for sharing!

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  5. Thanks for showing us his beautiful work. The word Care is a perfect description.

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  6. Thank you, Sue. I thought so; I was proud to come up with this particular title.

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