Greer Twiss
“Greer Twiss has an uncanny ability to transform the most heavy and cumbersome of materials into whimsical and witty sculptural forms. Since the 1960s, Twiss has conjured up an ever-expanding cast of surrealist-tinged sculptural oddities and curiosities.” Aaron Lister
Born in Auckland, Greer Twiss graduated with honours from Elam
School of Fine Arts, Auckland University in 1959. In 1965, Twiss
was awarded a study grant that gave him the opportunity him to
travel to Britain and Europe where he studied the lost-wax process
as seen in his early, smaller bronzes. In 1966, Twiss was appointed
to a lecturing position at Elam where he became head of sculpture.
Besides teaching, Twiss has maintained a prominent sculpture
practice, receiving awards such as public commissions in Auckland
and an invitation as guest contributor to the sculpture park at the
Seoul Olympics. From maquettes to public sculpture, Twiss' art is a
vernacular expression of what he knows and observes around him and
his sculptures usually retain figurative aspect. Twiss explains
that since the 1980s, "I have been looking at bird life not in
relation to their natural environs but the interface between them
and the manmade world," as seen in Collection 2000.
Twiss has worked in a number of mediums including lead and
fibreglass, but he is best known for the tactile bronzes, which he
appears to set in motion by strategically angling the works on
small bases.
Twiss' sculpture is included in public and private collections
in New Zealand including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and Te
Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. His work is also represented
in numerous international public and private collections.
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