Paul Radford
Marine-ply and fibreglass
Radford's recent work has used images of the human head to
explore processes of recognition and perception. Flotsam
evokes Cycladic or Bronze Age art, Easter Island monuments, local
marine history and childhood memories and is in its ideal
environment in the spectacular venue of
headland SCULPTURE ON THE GULF.
Radford's move into sculpture was almost accidental: 'I had
begun making small sculptures of very simplified heads in wood or
marble as maquettes for future paintings. Some of these resembled
the hulls of boats and, in what I would call a
Picasso-bull's-head-from-bike-seat-and-handlebars moment, it was
clear that I could make a large head from a boat. One thing I
particularly strive for is an absence of any specific meaning. I
want the work to be enigmatic and mysterious, not loaded with
applied significance. In this stripped back way the piece attains
its own kind of beauty.'
Auckland artist Paul Radford has exhibited throughout New
Zealand for over 30 years. An established painter and graduate of
Elam School of Fine Arts with a background as a scenic artist in
the film industry, Radford takes the title of this exhibition
literally and extends his fascination with the human head into
three dimensions.
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