The synthesis of natural and manmade elements is central to the sculpture of Ben Foster. His large-scale cast aluminium pieces combine Minimalist aesthetics with organic forms in work that is motivated by both contemporary art philosophies and structures from the natural environment.
Foster began working with metal casting during his formal art education and his expertise has developed through subsequent work in industrial design and fabrication. With this experience, Foster is able to employ many technically demanding production techniques to create his monumental works. Working from his Kaikoura studio, Foster constructs each piece from aluminium panels which are then welded, polished and sealed, creating confident and balanced forms.
The impact of the landscape on Foster’s work is immediately apparent. His sculptures suggest waves and currents, geological features and botanical forms. The monumental scale of his work can also be linked to his environment, with Foster channelling aspects of the dramatic landscape surrounding his studio into his sculpture. Installed in a natural setting, his pieces essentialise the forms of nature, reinterpreting them as the source of many quintessential elements of human art and design. For example, Voyage I may be interpreted in a number of ways to suggest the natural forms of a seedpod, leaf or feather, but also manmade objects such as a paddle or propeller.
This preoccupation with the parallels between manmade and natural objects runs throughout Foster’s practice. The turbines of hydroelectric generators, propellers and similar manufactured forms also provide inspiration, exemplifying man’s interaction with the forces of the natural world. Foster distils these forms to an essential core, realigning manufactured structures with their natural origins while evoking the functional elegance of these utilitarian objects.
Foster’s works also subtly respond to the concerns of Environmental art, becoming part of the natural context they inhabit by altering and interacting with their surroundings. The reflective and kinetic properties of his works change in response to the environment, augmenting and altering the viewer’s experience of the physical surroundings as forces of light and wind act on the work.
This environmental synthesis is perhaps best represented by the kinetic nature of Foster’s sculptures. Rather than standing as strictly autonomous art objects, these works move in response to environmental factors and human interaction. A strong breeze or an inquisitive touch may produce movement, with the graceful circular motion again suggesting the idea of the turbine and the benign interaction of man and nature. The vitality generated by the movement of Foster’s sculptures profoundly connects them to their setting; their motion and responsiveness to surrounding conditions lends them the appearance of independent life, implying a mysterious, functional purpose within the spaces they inhabit.
BIOGRAPHY
Born: Waipukurau
Lives: Kaikoura
Education: Bachelor of Visual Arts, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology
Awards/Distinctions: Barbara Wood Memorial Foundation Trust Scholarship (2006); The Wallace Art Awards – Finalist (2005); Toss Woollaston Art Scholarship (2005); Christchurch Polytechnic - Academic Achievement Award (2004)
Public Exhibitions: Sculpture in Central Otago, Wanaka (2011); NZ Sculpture OnShore, Auckland (2010); Heartland Sculpture Challenge, Timaru (2010); E-Scape: Sculpture in the Landscape, Waitakaruru Sculpture Park, Hamilton (2010, 2009); Ellerslie International Flower Show, Hagley Park, Christchurch (2010); Preview(Touring Exhibition), Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch, Temple Gallery, Dunedin, Webb’s Gallery, Auckland (2009); Mac’s Sculpture Symposium, Nelson (2006); Artist in Focus, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson (2009); The Wallace Art Awards Travelling Exhibition, Wallace Trust Gallery, Auckland; Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington; Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch (2006)
Articles: ‘Celebrating a Simple Existence’ by Emma Bailey, The Timaru Herald, Mar, 2010; ‘Fresh Blood’, by Virginia Were, Art News New Zealand, Spring 2006, pg 82; ‘Sculptor Artist in Focus’, The Nelson Mail, May, 2006