Sculptures secured for wild and windy Art in the Park opening

While winds across Auckland may whip over 35 kmh on Thursday, sculptures installed for Art in the Park won’t be flying anywhere, organisers promise.

Art in the Park is an annual celebration bringing more than 3000 pieces from about 130 New Zealand artists to the hallowed grounds of Eden Park from Thursday night through to Sunday.

Many of the installations are on display inside the exhibit halls. However, for the first time sculptures have been installed on the turf for a sculpture walk, and outside artworks will be facing some grim weather for Thursday night’s opening.

There will be 85 pieces in the sculpture walk, including a life-size T-rex skull sculpture titled Ronald Rex by artists Brad Pollock and Annie Kuehne.

“It weighs about 200kgs, so it took four or five people to get it off the trailer, then a forklift to set it onto the base,” says Sofija Matich, Art in the Park's creative director, in a statement to RNZ.

“It’s finished with real bronze powder, so it has the look of cast bronze but also feels like a fossil dug straight from the ground. It was definitely one of the trickiest installs of the show, but Ronald isn’t going anywhere in the wind,” she added.

Ronald and his sculpture pals will have to endure a wet and windy night, which is expected to clear by morning, according to Lewis Ferris, a meteorologist with the Met Service.

By Saturday, the wind will be gone and the sun will come out, “so Saturday will be a great day to head along,” he says.

Matich says that the event has worked with large sculptures before, and the crew has a good system for making sure everything is safe and secure.

“Each piece is checked for balance, weight, and stability, and fixed in place.”

It's billed as Australasia's largest curated, artist-led exhibition and sale, attracting thousands of visitors.

Another artist is 23-year-old Tyler Bow, who has a background in marine biology and fine arts. She is also a qualified scuba instructor.

A love of the ocean has inspired the Elam graduate’s work, which incorporates recycled and found materials. Her work is primarily sculptural, she says.

“I work with recycled glass, so whether that be recycled bottles that I pick up or broken windows, just refuse materials.

“I've also been able to work with some art glass as well and just casting it into all sorts of incredible shapes and really exploring that medium and how fragile it is and the depth that it has and the play with light.”

Reclaimed clay from previous projects, metal casting and underwater photography are also incorporated into her practice, she says.

Growing up in Auckland, the ocean has always been central to her life, she says.

“It's just such a big draw and inspiration for my work, and then, since becoming a scuba diver end of 2021, my creative practice is built on my values, and my artwork is just a physical representation of that ongoing learning and discovery, and because the ocean is such an important part of my values and what I enjoy doing, it just kind of comes out in my work.”