There were early signs of Terry Stringer’s calling as a sculptor. As a boy in England, he would make human figures out of plasticine.
“I have a distinct memory that I had the illusion that if one was a good enough sculptor and could make all the organs accurately, then there was no reason why that plasticine figure shouldn't actually be able to sit up and walk.” Stringer told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
Stringer is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated sculptors, with a career spanning more than six decades.
From his early days at Elam to his distinctive public sculptures and the creation of Zealandia Sculpture Garden, his work has become an important part of Aotearoa’s artistic landscape.
A new book, Stringer: The Art of Terry Stringer, brings together his body of work and reflects on a lifetime devoted to sculpture.
It was always a calling, he says.
“It's a vocation for sculptors to do the figure, and of course, it's a sculptural practice that goes so far back, and we can all think of Henry Moore and Rodin and Michelangelo, and back to the classical sculptors.
“It's like a calling, really. It's the challenge, and it's a language, too.”
Read the full article on RNZ here.
