Run River 2
Louise Purvis
Title: Run River 2
Date: 2019
Medium: Galvanised steel, Mangatangi river rock
Artist Description:
Riverhaven Artland asked me to build them a site specific sculpture that responds to the landscape for placement into their permanent collection. After several visits to the property I decided to investigate the river rock that they have used as a material for the network of pathways that criss cross the place. The stones used in the paths are from Mangatangi River Rock, which is a local quarry harvesting an ancient river bed. The quarry with its smooth stones went on to inform the sculpture.
I named the work “Run River 2”. It has come from the idea of a stream lifted out of the earth and repositioned so it floats above ground level. The exposed river stones suggesting a once vibrant water way, now dried up, twisting its way forward, diving in and out of view. Rivers are used by people as boundary markers to define land, we employ them as natural fences. “Run River 2” acknowledges this and it can be viewed as a stone wall gone rogue turning itself into a thread of stone and steel moving through the space.
Bio:
Louise Purvis’s primary mediums are stone and metals. Her works often have a simplicity to them which belies their actual making. Recent work has been based around land forms and notations of marking and mapping.
She has received many Art awards and she has completed a number of public site specific commissions. She works from an Auckland based studio and exhibits on a regular basis.
