North Gallery, 10th August–4th September 2010

Ecological Score is a body of sculptural work that investigates the New Zealand landscape through scientific enquiry, philosophical thought and everyday lived experience. Mapping is central to this creative process, emerging from a desire to form a deeper understanding of how humans relate to their surroundings, both urban and natural environments, and the transformations that are rapidly taking place as a result of a large human presence on earth. The observation of shifting boundaries and differing scales of time are ways in which humans create meaning from patterns in the land. This involves attending to the substance of the landscape and addressing the nature of the site or ground on which orderings might be juxtaposed. Pattern, scale and repetition are defining features of the topological surfaces we inhabit. They are also key elements in this body of work. Multiples are created from familiar objects and these reductive forms shift in scale, moving between reality and representation, literal and symbolic meaning. A strong material presence is created by sculpting with homogenous materials such as gorse or soap. These are often subjected to laborious and time-consuming processes, whilst the use of materials that change over time opens the work up to the element of chance. A double gesture is also present - the audience is engaged through the use of everyday materials and forms, and this sense of familiarity is then disrupted in order to generate a pause in which there is space to step back and (re)consider what is actually happening in and around us.

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