Sam's 1st NZ Public Sculpture Takes Shape
Janine Ogg
Blast From The Past
Those of you who have been following Sam’s mahi for a while will remember his first ever large-scale sculpture, completed in Bronze at the Changhun International Sculpture Symposium way back in 2008.
He’d always dreamed of making a tuna sculpture of this scale, so it was an amazing opportunity.
Living and working in China for 3 months with 50 other artists from all over the world was a pretty mad experience - we’ll have to share the full story of that adventure another time, but here’s a quick peek at what was created way back then….
Fast forward to 2022
Sam’s working on another big milestone - his first NZ-based public sculpture. This one’s been on the bucket list for a while and now it’s finally happening.
The commission itself is for the entry foyer of the Waihinga Civic Centre in Martinborough. Sam has collaborated with the Waihinga Charitable Trust and local hapū and whānau to come up with his concept, partnering with talented local kairaranga (weaver) Violet Edwards-Hina to bring the piece to life.
For a more detailed explanation of the sculpture vision and concept, read the article ‘Trust leaves an artistic legacy in Martinborough’ over on the SWDC website.
Work is Underway
As you can see from the images, the eels/tuna for the project are sculpted and drying/ This week Sam and Takapuna started glazing and loading the kiln up and the firing will be happening very soon. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan!
We can’t wait to see Violet’s part of the project evolve over the next few weeks - the engineer-approved framework for the hīnaki -inspired net Violet is weaving was delivered by Max Stevens yesterday (chairman of the former Waihinga Trust).
Chairman of the former Waihinga Trust Max Stevens found himself roped in to welding up the framework for Violet’s hīnaki net. It will hang horizontally from the ceiling and carry quite a bit of weight so the design had to be signed off by engineers. The initial framework wasn’t robust enough, so Max stepped in and used his considerable welding skills to make the frame you see here.
Follow Violet and Watch the Hinaki Emerge
Violet has set up a Facebook page capturing her journey weaving the hīnaki and invited hāpu and whānau to be involved. Click here to show support for her mahi and watch her weaving unfold - and please help us spread the word by hitting the share button on posts.
This is an awesome opportunity to learn another artform that was practised by our tupuna, including my dad, and iwi still use these weaving techniques throughout the pacific and other first nations and for me to showcase an artpiece on behalf of one of my hapū Ngati Hikawera me Kohunui Marae.
~ Violet Edwards-Hina, Kai Raranga