Chris Booth
Nikau II, 2015,
Crystallised sandstone, grey and blue stones, 1400 x 3200 x 900mm
Nature and change are almost synonymous with the work of Chris Booth. The sculptor has an ordered yet hushed reverence for the land - wherever he walks. Nikau II demonstrates a proficient sculptor’s keen eye for natural form, the revealing of something of nature’s ‘hidden order’. Booth finds this in the nikau; an indigenous plant with a prevalent history, aiding the thatching of roofs, weaving, bowls and food.
Nikau II is comprised of a small, delicate pebble structure which sits atop a crystalline sandstone slab from his local region of Northland. The pebble edifice is woven like a blanket, with stainless steel cable tensioning the arcs of pebbles and creating a miniature, hut-like structure. The intricacy of the structure’s braiding out of stone and steel is the mark of a talented artist’s process.
Booth states: “For many years it has been a vision of mine to inhabit my art with flora and fauna as well as working with land, nature, spirit [and] community.” Becoming not just a site-specific sculpture but an integral part of the natural environment, Booth’s work grows lichen, algae, moss and fern over time, becoming a mirror of its environment. Nikau II is a temporary shelter for the creatures who wish to inhabit it - like a birdhouse in a tree. Booth’s 1993 artwork In Celebration of a Tor in Cumbria, England, where the hollow of a woven stone ‘tube’ encouraged animals to make a home, signalled the beginning of the artist’s encouragement of living nature within his art. Nikau II, in keeping with Booth’s oeuvre, becomes nature’s dollhouse.
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Artist Bio
Chris Booth was born in Kerikeri, Bay of Islands, New Zealand in 1948, studied art under Selwyn Te Ngareatua Wilson at Northland College, and then at Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch.
Booth then travelled to the UK and Europe to study and work with prominent sculptors, including Barbara Hepworth at St Ives, England. On his return to New Zealand, a series of significant public and private commissions followed.
Well-known public sculptures in New Zealand include Gateway in Albert Park, Auckland (1986-90), the Rainbow Warrior Memorial at Matauri Bay, Northland (1988-90) Peacemaker in the Wellington Botanic Gardens (1990-92) the ceremonial entranceway for Ngai Tahu Marae in Kaikoura (1994-97) and in 2004-5, the Entranceway to the Hamilton Gardens,Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga.
International work includes numerous sculptures in Australia,Wurrungwuri at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney 2008-2010, Italy (Arte Sella 1998), Grizedale Forest Park in Cumbria, England (1993 & 1995) the Kroller-Muller Sculpture Park in the Netherlands as well as work in France, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Canada and the USA. All of Booth’s work evolves in close collaboration with the indigenous inhabitants of the land.
The ongoing focus of Booth’s work has been art in nature, generally executed in stone, although more recently his interest lies with living sculpture in stone and wood that transforms as it degrades, providing habitat for fungi and other living organisms.
The recipient of numerous awards, accolades and fellowships, Chris Booth is New Zealand’s most internationally acclaimed sculptor.
