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“For this exhibition, I have chosen to do a series of works based on our tiny friends in the insect world. These little creatures are an integral, indispensable part of the natural world without which life on this planet as we know it would not exist. Bugs do so many things which are often unseen and unheard, and I want to celebrate them.
They come in a diverse range of forms, some crawl about and some fly gracefully. Some we find attractive, possessing great beauty, and some we find scary and possibly repulsive. We take them for granted, but their absence would spell disaster for us.
As a sculptor, insects present an amazing array of forms and shapes, both simple and incredibly complex, and provide both an inspiration and also a challenge as to how they might be portrayed. There is strength in them and also delicacy, and these works attempt to portray both of these aspects while playfully using wood and other materials to construct them. Keeping true to their intrinsic form while also decorating them fancifully, as is my style and inclination.
The woods I have used in these pieces are Totara and Matai, with the Totara mostly coming from old house piles and fence posts, and the Matai from a fallen tree in the forest. Both have provided a home and sustenance to our tiny friends at some point, while alive, and while dead on the forest floor or under our dwellings. For their legs I have used the strings from an old piano, deconstructed after the ravages of tiny creatures reduced it to unplayable.”
– Tim Wraight