Will Kuiper
Sculptor
Sculptor's vision
Will Kuiper has held an intense and personal vision since he first began to sculpt in the late 1980's. His approach to transcribing complex philosophical notions into material forms - ones that enable a viewer’s similar connotation to engage their own reasoning - has evolved over the decades.
Will's early works featured ‘assemblage’ of combined materials; constructions in copper, lead, steel and glass, large and abstracted, sublime structures that are echoes of organic forms such as tree shoots and seed pods. The potent materiality of the solid forms was combined with transient elements; crushed glass, pools of green oil, split peas, etc. The resulting juxtapositions became visceral metaphors for the concepts he was describing.
His work developed further in the last decade. He now utilizes more apparent symbols to convey his message; mammals and birds are stylised and condensed into specific arrangements and narratives, with incongruous yet complimentary elements. For instance; an amorphous baobab stem with a tawny frogmouth atop, or a corroded 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 exhibition work incorporates vibrant small figurative sculptures, with dynamic linework extending their frame. The figures expand in 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.
Public sculpture
Will has a variety of public sculptures around Adelaide. His first public site sculpture, 1998, is in the protected bird sanctuary of the Waite Arboretum, a Tawny Frogmouth is in a circle of trees that is a nesting place for the endangered night birds. His signature series of howling dogs are well known; a set of two at Windsor Gardens Parklands; the solitary wolf at the entrance of the Hindmarsh Library - the hand modeled sculpture in contrast to the clean lines of architectural design of the building. He has several large outdoor sculptures in the prestigious State Collection at Carrick Hill.
Recent Commissions:
Will Kuiper’s most recent significant public sculpture was a film-frame moment of Malcolm Blight for Adelaide Oval. Larger than life size and powerfully dynamic, the sculpture creates a strong statement at the main Exit Gates from the Adelaide Oval. Another recent project was a series of sculptures for Dunstone Grove and Linde Reserve, Stepney. Here, seven large bronzes create a sculptural dialogue across the park, engaging with the significant history of the area as well as with the environment. This includes a 3m. spider, way up in a heritage tree; and two unique freeform egret waterbirds, a co-design with Meliesa Judge.
Education and 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 arts from the University of South Australia. Then a series of studios shared with other artists supported his early years of practice.
His current business, Liquid Metal Studios was first registered in 1993, with a sculpture bronze foundry constructed 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.
© Liquid Metal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Ownership of this website: This website is owned and operated by Liquid Metal Studios. All of the content featured or displayed on this website, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, photographs, images and illustrations is owned by Liquid Metal Studios, its licensors, artists and content providers. All elements of Liquid Metal Studios websites, including the content, are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to intellectual property rights.