Born in the north of Holland in 1972, Aiko Groot emigrated to New Zealand when he was eight. After spending a number of years pursuing a parallel passion for mountaineering (taking part in expeditions to the South American Andes and the Antarctic Peninsula) he now lives in Ohakune at the foot of Mt. Ruapehu with his wife and children. He studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland and graduated with a BFA in 1995.

Groot creates sculptures that move, ranging from small interior work to very large scale public pieces. His practice explores a range of interactions with available energy sources including wind, solar energy and direct interaction with the public. 
His sculptures are in many ways a reflection of his own ambiguous relationship with technology and our hyper-kinetic society.
 As he states, “I have always found gizmos interesting, yet am deeply aware of their often superfluous and dehumanising nature. 
There is an unmistakable irony in exploring this ambiguity with the machine by making more of them. This has led me to pursue a ‘rehumanisation’ of the technical/ mechanical; a search for the personality in the machine as it were.”

Stylistically Groot’s work has been likened to that of the great minimalists Donald Judd and Pol Bury. But in conceptual terms he considers himself better described as a maximalist, in that he aims to enhance profoundly inorganic forms with multiple layers of organic complexities through movement. A master in his practice, he is renowned for his technical expertise in the creation of kinetic sculpture. His work has been exhibited throughout New Zealand including ‘Sound Watch’, Artspace (1994), ‘Spellbound- Art+Alchemy’, The Dowse Museum (2004), and ‘Clean Machine’, Gus Fisher Gallery (2007). His sculptures can be found in both public and private collections.

May 2020