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Lake House sculptures hitting the road

Flagstaff Team

Story to tell… ‘Rāhui’, by Leroy Claydon, is at the beginning of a new sculpture trail at the Lake House Arts Centre

Plans are afoot to take Takapuna’s Wood Sculpture Symposium on the road.

Large carved pieces are shown each year at the Lake House Arts Centre, but now the centre hopes to share the artistry with other venues.

Centre operations manager and curator Grae Burton outlined his ambitions to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, which is one of the centre’s backers.

Early interest had been shown by Estuary Arts in Orewa, he said, but other venues were being sought to show a selection of the works. One suggested is the public space at 38 Hurstmere Rd.

Burton said the 2020 show attracted thousands of visitors to the centre, with works left in place for several months. Some had been uplifted by the artist and others had been shifted to the site’s perimeters to form a new sculpture trail for the public to enjoy.

That is still being completed, but the work pictured above, “Rāhui”, by Leroy Claydon, is already in place at the beginning of the trail at the centre, off Fred Thomas Dr. Claydon explains the concept of the piece as being about the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I wanted to represent how we had and have restrictions placed upon us due to Covid-19, not only as an individual, but as a whanau.”

The work showed a koro kneeling down with his mokopuna on his back, wondering what the future holds for upcoming generations bound by restrictions and facing change.

“The stingray on his face is the representation of the mask we have to wear in public, said Claydon. “The kneeling/standing on a kauri slab represents our home/house where we are forced to isolate ourselves. Also be- ing chained by the hands to the surrounding whenua, as we still have to venture out into public to get the essentials to survive under Covid-19 restrictions.”

The centre is embarking on more efforts to add a Maori perspective to some of its programmes and is also introducing te reo courses.


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