The canoe shaped Leaf-Vessel suggests both seed pod and life boat with the delicate skeletal form alluding to Houhere; (our New Zealand Lacebark) and the structural veins that remain after the outer leaf-layer has eroded. A recurrent theme in King’s work, the vessel represents life’s journey, hope and migration. The work becomes a symbol of nurturing and protection.
By magnifying and abstracting the scale and complexity of natural life forms, the artist draws attention not only to their beauty and fragility but also the vulnerability of the Earth’s eco-systems. Her sculpture celebrates life in the South Pacific. The works are informed by mythology, history, science and literature, and express concerns about ecology and survival and the delicate balance between sustainability and progress.
An artist whose name is synonymous with large-scale sculpture in the landscape, many of Virginia King’s works are commissions for private patrons around the world and rarely seen by the general public. In the public arena, the most well-known are Reed Vessel in the Melbourne Docklands, and in Auckland, the Rewarewa Creek Footbridge, the David Lange Memorial and Aramarama Millenium Footbridge. King was the 2010 Bondi Sculpture by the Sea Distinguished Invited Artist. In early 2006 she created participated in the New Zealand garden at Chelsea. King was awarded an Antarctic Artistic Fellowship in 1999 and has received several People Choice Awards during her career.