Jim Wheeler

REGENERATION SERIES: Puriri Gate Post, 2011
Bronze
1575 x 430 x 350 mm
Price on request

Springing from Jim Wheeler’s REGENERATION SERIES, the revered native Puriri sprouts from a distinctively New Zealand gate post. This ‘indication of new life symbolises the country's constantly evolving society while also emulating nature's regenerative power. Referencing the traditional fences and gates formerly situated on the Brick Bay land, the leaning wooden post - a relic of former times - is on closer inspection, meticulously created from bronze with the sprouting top recalling its former state.

As Wheeler “Fence and gate posts form a demarcation between nature and the humanised. Domestically and rurally, New Zealand is built of cut, processed wood. The bush often ‘takes back’ by overgrowing outbuildings and fence lines usually through an owner’s abandonment or neglect. Posts are potent symbols in New Zealand representing the conquering, ownership, or colonisation of nature. A sprouting post is more than an enigma; it is a metaphor of the power of nature to overcome all obstacles. An image we humans should take to heart.”