How would you describe your relationship with the natural world?
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This is a question Griffith artist Hape Kiddle hopes people will ponder when they come to see his new exhibition Custodian launching February 5 at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery.
The collection of roughly 30 hand-carved, wood sculptures has taken 12 months to create. With thousands of hours of work finally complete, Mr Kiddle says how people interact with the work is now out of his hands.
"This exhibition is about what it means to be a custodian. We are all a custodian in some sort of way whether it be of our children or a living space or a garden," Mr Kiddle explained.
"If we approach something with the desire to care for it, it changes the entire way you look at the world.
"As an artist, you are there to open up conversations that perhaps haven't existed yet. But it's the work that's important and now the work's done. So anything after I'm not in control of."
The self-taught sculptor from Utiku, New Zealand, Mr Kiddle says that nature has always played an integral role in his life. However, throughout the creative process of carving the pieces of Custodian he has had to ask himself some heavy questions.
"I've asked myself a lot: Am I being a custodian?" He said.
"There was a stage when I was first thinking about this exhibition where I was really dark about it, where the idea of being a custodian just felt so heavy. Responsibility can be really overwhelming at times.
"We treat our living world as an everyday commodity with very little thought to it being a living entity, that we are a part of, whether we like it or not."
Mr Kiddle has been living and creating in Griffith for 11 years and has seen some exciting progress in the arts community recently. He believes the moment has arrived for the broader community to enjoy and be a part of what's building here.
"The artistic community in Griffith is at the strongest I've ever seen it at the moment," he said.
"We have some incredible talent here. There are people in the arts all around me in this town that are really pushing things out there."
Griffith Regional Art Gallery will be launching the 2021 program along with Custodian, Friday February 5, from 6pm. For more information and to book tickets see the gallery Facebook page.
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Kat is a former English teacher to international students and has taught all over the world. She is beginning a new career as a journalist with the Area News. Got something you want to chat about? She's all ears.
Kat is a former English teacher to international students and has taught all over the world. She is beginning a new career as a journalist with the Area News. Got something you want to chat about? She's all ears.
