Gretchen Albrecht is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists. Well-known as a painter and a glorious colourist, her shaped canvases have become treasured in most significant collections of New Zealand art, both public and private.
Oceans, Islands, Sky is one in a new series of sculptures. While the leap from flowing luminous paint on canvas to manipulated metal sculptures seems at first an unlikely one, in other ways it can just as easily be seen as a natural progression. Albrecht’s shaped canvases themselves are quite sculptural and have always been constructed to the most exacting specifications of the artist. Her sweeping gestural brush strokes are extremely physical and energetic; she uses the natural arc and motion of her whole body as she works. It is this very motion that Albrecht goes on to play with and explore further in three dimensions.
Initially constructing small maquettes in her studio, Albrecht then moves to full-scale stainless steel sculptures working with skilled technicians. In these works Albrecht manages not only to explore the qualities inherent in the metal - the rigid form and reflective surfaces -but to a large degree she seeks to defy them. From this hard and relatively unforgiving medium she creates works that are lyrical and full of movement. The oval form of the shaped canvases remains, and intertwining steel mesh replaces the lightness of the flowing brush stroke. The solid geometries that so often move across the surface of the paintings, giving form and perspective or visual anchor, also move within the space of the sculpture.
At Brick Bay, Oceans, Islands, Sky has been sited between the courtyard gardens and the beginning of the Sculpture Trail. Here the work references the order and structure of the building behind it and mirrors the surrounding trees in its varied surfaces. Intended to be experienced outdoors, the sculpture also reflects the elements of weather and the colour of the landscape and foliage that Albrecht so often explores in her paintings.
Kate Darrow