An artist needs his space

After two decades in the bucolic wilderness, aka Zealandia Sculpture Garden at Puhoi , world-acclaimed sculptor Terry Stringer has packed his works and moved back to the city. He’s migrating from seven hectares in the country to an urban commercial space overlooking Basque Park in Eden Terrace. “Living in the country has been delightful and it’s allowed me to spend a lot of time in the studio without city distractions, but lately I’ve been missing those distractions. I like seeing what other artists are doing and going to performances. When you live an hour away, you have to pick and choose what you attend or you’d spend your life driving. It’s a good time to shift.” Terry is known for works that are loaded with riddles, complexity and stories. The human form is a starting point for many of his sculptures and viewers are rewarded with surprises as they investigate. “I’ve been exploring the same idea all my working life. Typically you get a face on one side and maybe a figure on the other. And you can only see one side of a sculpture at a time. It’s a sequence of things that you see when you’re with the sculpture and it often tells a story. For Paula’s photo shoot we featured the piece that I call ‘ We Are Shaped By Our

There’s a young person on one side, the face of a grown person on the other and hands that are shaping the piece. It says that how you are treated as a child has a big part to play in your life.” Terry’s new address will include an urban experience that displays his artistic journey to date. When it’s complete, visitors will be able to view the gallery by appointment. “At Zealandia in Puhoi, visitors had the opportunity to see my work in context. I want to continue this opportunity at the new space. It will offer context, continuity and immersion.” Vastly different to the eccentric Pip Cheshire creation at Puhoi, Terry’s new space is a 1980s structure with a black glass façade. Assisted by his partner Tim, Terry is currently working with architect Malcolm Walker to reinterpret the building. “It’s a big, high building with an office at the front and a large warehouse at the back. We’ll change the office to a living space, then transform the warehouse into a studio and gallery space.” Terry’s gallery concept, which will take an entirely new form in Eden Terrace, was inspired by the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives. “You can walk through where she worked and lived, then out into a little garden that she designed. It’s an intense feeling of her life and work. I don’t think you have to wait until you die to offer this kind of experience.” The new gallery will also be called Zealandia, continuing the brand that Terry created at his Puhoi estate. “Not many people know this, but Zealandia is the European personification of New Zealand that you see on the New Zealand coat of arms. She’s the New Zealand equivalent of Britannia. As a European who transplanted to New Zealand, I feel an affinity with Zealandia.” www.zealandiasculpturegarden.co.nz