STONE SCULPTURE
I was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1950. Graduating from the University of New South Wales, Australia in 1972 with a degree in chemistry, I worked for some time as a research chemist, before taking up working with stones in 1977.
My early work was predominantly amulets in nephrite jade of which New Zealand has a very fine resource. The rarity and beauty of jade led me to consider the use of other indigenous hard stones such as altered argillite and basalt traditionally used by Maori culture. My work in these alternative materials has had an influence on other sculptors in New Zealand and has led the way to establishing a new regard for the stones which have been such a part of New Zealand's cultural heritage.
In the past five years since relocating my home and studios to Karekare on the West Coast of Auckland, my work has increased in size and has for the first time begun to incorporate stones such as granite, basalt and marble. Many of the works are constructions, often incorporating stone, glass and metal.
Important themes in my work continue to be concerned with the part that objects play in creating culture, the way that they represent and reflect our understanding and development, how they become icons of our societies. It is my conscious endeavour to transform materials so that they appear to be more than the sum of their parts. My work is of a highly didactic nature, where analogies are drawn between the materials, the processes, and the human condition.
Red granite wedges drive in and separate the block of black granite in Intrusion. Glass strips embedded in a mass of black rock allow light to emanate as if the stone is releasing light from its core in Section. What appears from one angle to be solid, from another is liquid like water. There is essential and radical deconstruction in these works as there is in most aspects of human endevour, but always the element of destruction is countered by one of construction, whereby the materials are healed, restored, and mended. There is hope in these works, the dark forces are illuminated. The base is exalted, the common made precious.
Regeneration. Reparation.
Through contemplation of these works it is my hope that other people will come to a understanding of the precious and precarious nature of our world.
For the smallest part of anything, we are each and all responsible.
John Edgar
April 1995
JOHN EDGAR : SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1996 CROSS COUNTRY
New Zealand North Island Tour
1995 BADGE
Fluxus, Dunedin
1994 LIGHT RELIEF
Fingers, Auckland
1993 MAKING AMENDS
New Zealand National Tour 1993-1995
1992 PANACEA
Fluxus, Dunedin
Crawford Gallery, Sydney.
1989 STONE LINES
Survey Exhibition 1977-1989
National Museum of NZ, Wellington
Auckland Museum, Auckland
1988 LAND TOKENS
Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt
. . . . ROCK EROSION
Fingers, Auckland
1986 IN CHINA
Villas Gallery, Wellington
1984 CARDINAL POINTS
Janne Land Gallery, Wellington
1983 SIGNS OF THE COMET
Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt
1979 TAIL OF A DRAGON
Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland
Home base at Karekare:
P O BOX 21-495, AUCKLAND 8, NEW ZEALAND
Ph / Fax: 64-9-8128555 ..... Email:
jedgar@iconz.co.nz