News
Landscapes recreated in clay - 19 Feb 2010
Renowned New Zealand clay artist, Len Castle, has been manipulating clay since he was a child growing up in Auckland.
Born in 1924, he has worked in his chosen medium since 1947, becoming a full time potter in 1963. Since then, his love of nature and science has fuelled the inspiration behind his ceramic works, resulting in his latest exhibition, Mountain to the Sea, opening at Tauranga Art Gallery on Saturday 20 February.
The exhibition, containing approximately sixty works, images of the landscapes that inspired him, plus poetry by ten leading New Zealand poets, is a celebration of the New Zealand landscape.
Clay represents Castle’s love of the land. The extreme and unpredictable elements of the landscape, from the raw volcanic plateau through to the sea weathered boulder, are his inspiration.
Castle has been photographing the New Zealand landscape since the 1960s, images which now sit naturally alongside his ceramic works. These explorations of nature have resulted in a wide range of works in clay and glaze materials, ranging from elegant blue lake bowls through to gritty lava tubes and fossil-like forms that illustrate Castle’s manipulation of clay.
The poems included in the exhibition by poets such as Michael Harlow and Cilla McQueen, provide the viewer an opportunity to reflect on the many layers of meaning and intent behind each piece.
Mountain to the Sea is a touring exhibition and can be viewed at the gallery until 18 April.
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