Sculptor tells how he pulls mental strings

By LINDA HERRICK

Auckland sculptor Greer Twiss, whose comprehensive 40-year survey Theatre Workshop is creating wonderment at the New Gallery, is also taking part in a series of talks and demonstrations at the gallery to give extra insight into the thoughts and processes which go into his work.

From Twiss' childhood hobby as a puppeteer, to his fascination with the theatricality of "staging" sculptural pageants, his art is complex and provocative and the man himself a witty and endearing speaker. His "studio", re-created and replicated in the gallery, is worth several return visits alone, such is its weaving of the strange and the normal.

Note that it pays to be alert to all sorts of media when you are looking at Twiss' work - the man loves to play with sound and the results are sometimes amusing and sometimes even a little alarming.

The series launches tomorrow at 1pm, with a talk by the exhibition's curator, Allan Smith, senior lecturer of painting at Elam Art School. That is followed by the man himself on Sunday at 3pm, with Twiss discussing and demonstrating the link between puppetry and his work. (Incidentally, Twiss first became interested in puppetmaking because of ill health and long periods of being confined to bed when he was a boy.)

On Thursday March 27 at 1pm, Twiss and arts commentator Hamish Keith engage in conversation. April 17 (1pm) sees Dr Robyn Woodward, Auckland University art history lecturer, outlining the concerns shown in Twiss' work for human, social and environmental issues. For example, one of his installations, No Sun, No Rain, No Radiation (1986) is particularly poignant, relating to a house fire and a death.

On May 1, at 1pm, Derrick Cherrie, Elam's head of sculpture, will pay tribute to the man who was his former teacher - Twiss taught there for many years - and later became his colleague.

Smith and Auckland Art Gallery have also published a comprehensive catalogue ($29.95) which makes a useful addition to the appreciation of one of our finest sculptors. And next time you pass the sculpture on the corner of Symonds St and K Rd, have a good look instead of taking it for granted: it's Twiss' Karangahape Rd Fountain.

* What: Greer Twiss: Theatre Workshop talks series

* Where: New Gallery

* When: Talks series, starting tomorrow at 1pm