Our Way of Life /
Artist Raymond Herber’s passion for creating was brought to life after transforming a ‘dust bowl’ into a grand outdoor exhibition space for his enchanting nature-inspired sculptures.
Creating with fire and steel in North Canterbury
In the Waipara Gorge a place of magic hides in the dramatic, contoured landscape like a wonderous secret. If you veer your car off the beaten track of State Highway 1 and follow the winding paved road less travelled to the gorge, in less than 10 minutes the landscape transforms itself into one of wild, majestic beauty. Rolling hills give way to formations of limestone so spectacular they look deliberately carved. Jagged rocky outcrops pierce the stony earth; while terraced vineyards, olive groves and truffière all rest under the shadow of the iconic and beautiful sister mountains, the Three
Deans. It is here you will find Iron Ridge Quarry Sculpture Park beyond intricately forged carved iron gates, a once unassuming and abandoned limestone quarry that has been reborn as home to the whimsical and compelling sculptures of artist Raymond Herber.
For Raymond, Iron Ridge is the manifestation of longheld dreams, hour upon hour of hard work and a vision for an outdoor exhibition space like no other. The son of an artist, and one of seven similarly creative children, Raymond’s earliest memories are of playing with toys at the base of his father’s easel as he painted. After his father’s death, when Raymond was 11, he would often go into his basement workshop, making a myriad of contraptions – from motorised bikes to go-karts, for his own enjoyment. For Raymond, dyslexic and a self-professed ‘square peg in a round hole’, school was an uneasy fit, but the workshop became a welcome haven, and cemented a passion for creating that would be the foundation of his future career.
After leaving school, and working on a dairy farm and various engineering workshops around Christchurch,
Raymond decided to go out on his own. ‘It didn’t take me long to work out that I didn’t really fit into the framework that normal society had laid out, and at the age of 19 I went out on my own and became self-employed, renting an old brick building in the dark depths of Woolston, Christchurch. I was doing mostly light engineering work for people. This soon progressed into more creative metalwork such as wrought-iron gates, furniture, shopfitting and the like. There was a creative fire burning, unstoppable really, even if there was more money in doing the boring engineering work, I always ended up doing the creative projects first.’
Raymond worked from his Woolston space for five years, where he created many pieces and began to gain traction as an artist. In 1996, a collection of Raymond’s large creations were installed in Te Papa’s Mountain to Sea exhibition in Wellington, an impressive achievement for the 25-year-old artist.
It was in the following year, 1997, when Raymond stumbled upon the newspaper advertisement that would change the course of his life forever. ‘I was sitting in my living space above the workshop in dreary old Woolston reading The Press and dreaming of owning a place of my own when I spotted a small ad that read: Disused Limestone Quarry, Waipara for sale. It caught my attention, and without further ado, I hopped in my old Hilux to find out where this interesting sounding place was.’
What he found would have been overlooked by most as an uninhabitable dust bowl, but for Raymond, it presented unlimited possibility. With its rustic sheds and stunning vistas, it was the perfect spot for an outdoor exhibition space, and Raymond purchased the property and set to work to bring his vision to life.
‘In the years that followed I became a man possessed, I think,’ says Raymond. ‘I threw myself into the mammoth task of turning this dusty moonscape of a place into a grand outdoor exhibition space, a park-like setting just waiting to have artworks positioned throughout. I bought an old 20-tonne excavator and an old tip truck and set to move a mountain of topsoil from a neighbouring farm to the quarry – 350 truckloads in total. I became quite good at fixing those worn-out old machines, but they got the job done.’
Borrowing and bartering, swapping ironwork for topsoil and native plants from local farms, the quarry was transformed from dust bowl to alluring park-like grounds.
The result is the perfect backdrop for Raymond’s graceful and whimsical sculptures that often reflect the rivers, landscape and the nor’west wind that often blows so fiercely across the plains of Canterbury. ‘I imagine when people look at my work, they will easily spot my heartfelt connection with nature, the importance of the intricate balance, so easily overlooked in our modern time. Water and our connection to it is an element that is predominantly featured, delicate yet powerful, another life force that has been heavily taken for granted in recent years and often exploited. I like to think art can teach us to be more careful with our precious environment, bring awareness in ways not easily conveyed. I strive for balance in my work, and I feel things are very much out of balance at the present time, and I would like to think we would consider this in more depth.’
In 2002 Raymond’s partner Sue moved out from Christchurch, and the two were married on the property, where they now live in the renovated house next to Raymond’s
‘I like to think art can teach us to be more careful with our precious environment, bring awareness in ways not easily conveyed.’
workshop with their two children Esther (14) and Luca (13). Iron Ridge was opened for visitors, and a dream had come to fruition through dedication and sheer force of will.
Sue has become the key organiser of mini-events on the property, with local food, wine and music. Car clubs, bus tours and garden clubs are all regular visitors to the park, perusing the vast array of kinetic and interactive sculptures on display, enjoying the stunning views across the Waipara Valley. Larger groups are often treated, upon request, to a forging demonstration by Raymond in his workshop. Day trippers picnic in the grounds, sometimes coming away with a piece from Raymond’s collection, or commissioning their own.
‘When an artwork is purchased by someone they are not just buying the item they are getting, they get all the hundreds of thoughts and decisions that went into creating that piece, they are getting a piece of that person’s life in a way; to me that is no small thing,’ Raymond explains.
The techniques Raymond uses to create his sculptures are ancient, and in his rustic workshop where the forge blazes fiercely and the implements are those of a bygone era, it is like stepping back through time. ‘The first time I saw someone working steel on a forge I knew it was for me, I was just fascinated by the process of being able to make the steel soft and malleable and shape it into beautiful flowing forms,’ he shares. ‘Blacksmithing goes back centuries; there is something magical about the process when one is working alone with fire and steel.’
To see Raymond’s enchanting sculptures moving gracefully with the wind against the backdrop of such rugged and intense beauty, is to watch nature and art in harmony. A magical and unforgettable experience not to be missed.
The techniques Raymond uses to create his sculptures are ancient, and in his rustic workshop where the forge blazes fiercely and the implements are those of a bygone era, it is like stepping back through time.