Artist Studios - 9

Graham Bennett, Christchurch. July 2008. Ajr

One of my favourite artist studios belongs to Christchurch sculptor, Graham Bennett, who in fact spreads his creativity over two big studios – one in his house, the other a large warehouse space given over to the necessary machines of large scale sculpture making. But it’s his home studio that inspires me most. There his ideas and inspirations spread all through an upstairs studio that sneaks into every available inch of roof space. It’s filled with drawings, models, marquettes and the quirky collectibles he surrounds himself with. It’s a hive of activity just now, as Graham works towards two exhibitions at Galerie Paris in Yokohama, Japan in September – one a collaboration with Dunedin fashion designer, Donna Tulloch of Mild Red; the other a solo show of his sculptures. From there he makes a hasty visit to Shanghai before opening his solo sculpture show at Gallery Koru in Hong Kong in October. He’s also been accepted for Sculpture in the Gulf 2009, the biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition placed along a 2-kilometre long public walkway at Matiatia Harbour, Waiheke Island. And that’s just some of his current projects – projects that can be as small as a piece of jewellery (see here) or as big as a sculpture that reaches 18-metres into the air (see here). www.bennettsculpture.info