Will Kuiper has held an intense and personal vision since he first began to sculpt in the early eighties. His approach to transcribing complex philosophical notions into material form, has evolved over the decades.

Will's early works featured ‘assemblage’ of combined materials -, constructions in copper, lead or steel that were large and abstracted – into sublime structures, echoes of organic forms such as tree shoots & seed pods. These were combined with transient elements, (crushed glass, pools of olive oil, green split peas). The resulting installations and assemblages became visceral metaphors for the concepts he was describing.

As his work has developed further, he began to utilize more apparent symbols to convey the message, such as mammals & birds; which were condensed into specific arrangements with incongruous yet complimentary elements. For instance; an amorphic baobab stem with a tawny frogmouth atop, or an oversized tuning fork with a howling wolf. Eventually the wolves became a signature series, with several versions now installed in contrasting public sites around the city.

His most recent work incorporates vibrant small figurative sculptures, with dynamic linework extending their frame. The figures expand a context with a few minimal lines. The combination of figuration and abstraction become distinct. The sculptures are specific and intense, the small scale emerges to suggest much larger configurations; the intersection between the human form and environment.

Recent Commissions: Will has just successfully completed a series of sculptures for a major park redevelopment in Stepney. Sculptures designed to engage the imagination of childen and adults are distributed through the park. A final piece depicting two waterbirds will be installed in May 2012.

Education & training: Will returned to study as a mature student after working for the art gallery of South Australia for several years. He gained a bachelor of fine art from the University of South Australia in 1986. A series of studios shared with other artists supported his early years of practice.

His business, Liquid Metal Studios was first  registered in 1993, with the first bronze foundry constructed within the following year. The business in partnership with his wife, Meliesa Judge, is a thriving concern, rapidly becoming one of Australia’s leading producers of contemporary figurative sculpture.

Will has a variety of public sculptures around Adelaide; in the protected bird sanctuary of the Waite Arboretum, his Tawny Frogmouth is in a circle of trees that is a nesting place for the threatened night birds. His howling dogs are well known; the set of two at Windsor Gardens Parklands, and the solitary wolf at the entrance of the new Hindmarsh Library, the hand modeled sculpture in contrast to the clean lines of architectural design of the building. Will’s most recent significant sales were several large works for the State Collection at Carrick Hill. The sculptures include one of Will’s howling wolves, and a giant spider, designed for the site and suspended high in a tree over the children’s playground.