Adrian Mauriks : Sculpture

Silence, 2001-2002, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Compilation, 2003, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Opus 16, 1995, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Opus 16

1995

Steel

220 x 120 x 110 cm

Collection of the artist

Blue No. 6, 2019. Sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Blue No. 6

2019

Ultra Saturate Blue Painted Steel

Height 81 cm

Blue No. 3, 2019. Sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Blue No. 3

2019

Ultra Saturate Blue Painted Steel

Height 80 cm

Violent Souls, courtesy T.S. Eliot, 2018

Violent Souls

2018

Steel

Height 44, 36, 34 and 30 cm

Title inspired by T.S. Eliot

Dancer 1, 2018, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Dancer 1

2018

Steel

Height 36 cm

The Hollow Men, courtesy T.S. Eliot, 2019

The Hollow Men

2019

Gun Blued Steel

100 x 50 x 82 cm

Title inspired by T.S. Eliot

Fire Within Two, 2011, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Herma, 2015, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Herma

2015

Epoxy resin and virtual chrome paint

Height: 62 cm

Impulse, 2017, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Opus Ten, 1994, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Meeting Place, 1985, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Bird Totem, 1988, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Oldest Man, 1991, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.

Oldest Man

1991

Bronze

360 x 80 x 50 cm

Collection of The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia

Construct II, 2006, sculpture by Adrian Mauriks.
Dancer 3, 2018
Fire Totem, 1986
Three, 2006
Conversation with a Bird, 2007
Crowd One, 2016
Emanon, 2017
Elusive Formation, 2017
Surge, 2017
Monument to the Hand, 2017
Lillies, 2005
Natural Forms, 2009
Opus 14, 2005
Source, 2005
Garuda, 2011
Ancient Reverie, 2006
Landscape Dreamer II, 1982
Lovers, 2003
Opus 31, 1997
Construct III Visitor, 2006
Opus Three, 1993
Red Totem Two, 1988
The I Factor, 2003
Tree a Forest, 2003
Winged Tower, 1990
Silence, 2001
No Title 1, 1991
Cross Totem, 1988
Aspiration, 1990
Cloud Trees, 2003
Snake Totem, 1990
When Darkness Ends, 2011
Captive, 2006
Opus 27, 1996
Journey One, 1979
Moon Totem Two, 1988
Strange Fruit, 2010
Angel, 2003
Flux, 1991
Fire Within, 2009
Dante Tree, 2003
Forest, 2009
Altar, 1982
Construct 5, 2008
Knot, 2016

The Work

A chapter in the history of the world.
Genetically altered forms resembling living organisms.
The forms are part of an intimate landscape experience.
An inspired desire to capture something of a living presence.

A thread runs through the work linking the pieces, best described by the notion of the eternal tree as a metaphor for the idea that we are nature and nature is us. Linked in every way. What is one is also the other.

Discovering nature as ourselves has found our place as participant, not as an unconnected force but remembered from within. Precisely what that thread is or where it is taking me is unknown to me. The content of this journey is revealed by way of each work, so it is both intriguing and unknowable at the same time.

Words regarding the work tend to dilute.

The work feels connected, as if it should "be". The forms have taken on some kind of pertinent presence.

I always sense a kind of familiarity in the work, when I feel good about it.

Explanations miss the point. The forms are simply there. It has a presence but requests no explanation. Little point in wondering what it's for.

The work does not require a response and is neither self conscious nor invasive. It is silent, but that does not mean nothing is said.

Engagement and participation are encouraged by a slow and contemplative journey through the work. In 1998, I made a sculpture called Garden of Eden and a number of installations since have made reference to the idea of a garden. The Garden as metaphor for the environment.

Ken Scarlett, well-known curator and arts writer pointed out in his essay A Sculptural Journey published in a catalogue of my work called Images in the Mirror and I quote: - "The virginal, pure white of the work is somewhat misleading, for the Garden of Eden has been defiled, there is a hidden cynicism, an implied criticism of society and it's neglect of the environment".

So if it happens that an artist "says" something he does so by subjecting content to invention and metaphor.

Everything reminds us of something, intended or not, to free himself the artist must break away from whatever went before. Especially in his own work, take another step, move on, don't remain in the same place, take a chance. Art is not made in a comfort zone.

Keenness of vision is a means to an end, that end being the transformation of things seen in a coherent and personal universe. So what you make of it depends on the keenness of your personal vision.

Events inform content. Content by implication constructs. Art evaluates "being there", linking events at the edge to living the chaotic silence of our personal space.

Some constructs are strange and unfamiliar. The work contains elements of the known and the abstract. The relationship between the pieces is intriguing but unknowable. Components relate to other components by the presence of being there but no amount of dialogue will explain what is there.

Adrian Mauriks