Louise McRae Un-monument — Brick Bay Sculpture Trail

LOUISE McRAE

Project Un-Monument:

De-Monument, 2019
Concrete, wood, acrylic paint, steel
1800 x 540 x 540mm

Night Knight, 2019 Concrete, wood, acrylic 1630 x 320 x 320mm

Wing and a prayer, 2019 Concrete, wood, acrylic paint, steel 600 x 730 x 650mm Price on request

Working Group (NC), 2019 Concrete, wood, acrylic 900 x 470 x 400mm

Tower Two, 2019 Concrete, wood, acrylic paint, steel 2200 x 200 x 100mm

Louise McRae already had a strong reputation as a painter when she made the transition to sculpture during 2016. In her sculptures, McRae harnesses vivid acrylic colours, such as bright lurid green and hot pink, then contrasts them dramatically with dark lustrous charred timber. There is tactility created, between the solidity of the recycled native timber against the bulging, distorted, seemingly soft brightly coloured concrete form it is entangled with. These forms give the illusion of softness and hardness and play with the viewers’ perceptions; it is these idiosyncratic juxtapositions which bring the element of play, fun and surprise into McRae’s work.

“The starting point of the project Un-monument was inspired by a monument of a colonial king near my home. The statue’s head has been stolen repeatedly over the years. I always preferred it headless. The object is more interesting to me missing an important piece, the naughtiness of the act, and the accidental point of view it raised. Looking into the history of the monument I discovered that many of the post colonial monuments in NZ were erected to entice young men and women to join the armed forces, purposely using glory to persuade. A kind of post-colonial billboard. The meaning of those monuments has slipped from its original intent.”

McRae’s work is politically charged, yet not overtly, and in this current series she is exploring the concept of collapse - of materials, nature, systems…

“Looking at a wider world, we are surrounded by ecological, financial, political and social systems sliding, in collapse. I’m interested in the opportunities that arise once we accept collapse.”