Alan Crowe
“The pieces take about a week fulltime to make and are mostly made of recycled Totara from the verandah of a Matamata villa circa 1908”
Sculpture
We Love…
The way in which Alan is able to transform something as solid as wood into such a poetic, undulating and fluid form - finding the organic lifeform that originated the material and bringing it back to life through care and consideration. ARTFORM.
Currently in the gallery…
Feature
Alan Crowe has a mind that can stretch across fields. He has enjoyed a long career in the world of science which he describes as “a very unique mindset that manages time, multi-skilling and demands a high level of accuracy of result and process”. Sculpture as an artistic pursuit drew Alan in as it allowed him to develop the works in a fluid and responsive way… “to change to the design without the mental restraints you have in science”. Alan started making large wooden sculptures, some with glass inserts that were on support posts or hung between trees in his garage workshop but felt restrained by space and temperature during winter. Alan’s wife, Sigrun also expressed a wish to create a glass workshop with proper glass storage to further her own beautiful glass lead light art practice. The solution was a 45 sq meters all seasons purpose-built studio to throw themselves into their artistic passions.
The wood Alan currently uses is recycled totara, originally from a house in Matamata built in 1908. The wood is stunning to carve but does provide Alan challenges (such as 100-year-old nails!) which colour the wood and gives the wood unmistakable character.
Alan also loves kauri and rimu when a piece becomes available taking much joy in matching the wood to the design chosen.