Graham Bennett
"My work is a convoluted journey of tangents and overlays, providing opportunities to trigger questions for myself and others about who, where and when we are or perhaps to challenge what balance means in our life, actions and relationships with the earth and with others"
Born in Nelson, Graham Bennett graduated from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, where he trained in photography. His practice evolved to sculpture because of his interest in forms within three-dimensional space, particularly the human figure. This combined with his overseas travels after art school led to an ongoing fascination with movement, maps, navigation, measurements, and the shaping of identity through associations with place.
Stainless steel, stone, wood, or bronze, large scale public sculpture, intricate miniatures, or mixed media drawings, Graham's work is "based in the patterns and place of Aotearoa New Zealand - but it has a universality that resonates internationally and cross culturally. It derives from a knowledge of history and humankind, an emotive bond between identity and place and an enquiring mind that is alert to questions of connection. Painstaking examination of detail and an awareness of the broader framework, coupled with an eye that is tuned to pattern and shape, is the essence of Graham Bennett's work." (Robin Woodward) These qualities can be seen in the environmentally responsive works, moving with the wind or casting dramatic shadows to create yet another trajectory.
Graham's public sculptures grace the foreground of the Christchurch Art Gallery and Connell's Bay Sculpture Park and Rocky Bay on Waiheke Island as well as Kurashiki City in Japan, among others. Graham has held numerous solo exhibitions throughout New Zealand and Japan and has participated in group shows internationally.
2020
Around Every Circle, RNZ
Listen here.
2015
Read T.J McNamara's NZ Herald review
of Loss Adjuster online here.
2013
Catalogue: Heavy Shadows