By Jesse Graham
INTRICATE sculptures woven from copper wire have been gathered from around the country and brought to TarraWarra Museum of Art for the first major posthumous exhibition of the work of sculptor, Bronwyn Oliver.
The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver officially opened on Sunday, 21 November, and will run until 4 February, 2017, featuring more than 50 works from the New South Wales artist.
Curator Julie Ewignton said the exhibition was the first “major survey exhibition” of the sculptor’s work since her death in 2006, with pieces gathered from around the country.
“It has over 50 works, which cover the career from 1984 right through to 2006,” Ms Ewington said.
“A great deal of it is copper wire; she started originally working in different materials – you’ll see paper with cane, fibreglass, very early on.
“There’s even something that looks like flywire – a very fine copper wire – but, gradually, she settles in to working with various forms of copper wire.”
The result is intricate sculptures that appear to be almost woven out of the study wire, with lighting installed in the gallery to complement the pieces and throw shadows across the walls and floors.
“From very early on, I think from 1988, she worked out that the lighting should be considered as part of the work, and very often there are quite specific instructions, saying only light from one source – so it gets a particular shadow, and that shadow, behind the form itself, is considered part of the work,” Ms Ewington said.
“With sculpture, you have to always consider not only the positive form, but also the negative space around it – while she is someone who focused on closed objects, sometimes, with others, she’s very aware of the negative space, she’s very aware of what happens as you move around it.”
The space at TWMA shifts and changes with each exhibition, with rooms constructed for video and interactive areas created as exhibitions change – for this exhibition, the main hall of the gallery has been emptied of extra walls, leaving vast spaces around the sculptures.
Ms Ewington said Ms Oliver’s works were best viewed from all angles, as they could change appearance from different sides and under different light.
“You’ve got to circumnavigate the works,” she said.
“You can’t touch, but you’ve got to circumnavigate, and the great pleasure is just seeing them from different angles and seeing the way the light falls through them.
“You just go around them and they start to move and change.”
TarraWarra Museum of Art is located at 311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road, Healesville, and is open from 11am-5pm Tuesday-Sunday.
Entry is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for pensioners and students and children under 12 receive free entry.
For more information, call 5957 3100.
