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.