John Lyall - Artist's Talk

The current exhibition “Wood for the Trees” at Lopdell House in Titirangi brings together works by five artists: John Lyall, Michael Shephard, Russell Moses, Tanya Ruka, Derek March. Many environmental and historical ideas are touched upon throughout.

John Lyall’s contribution is entitled “Forest of Curves: Afloat”. It is a catalogue of seven “curves”, constructed from offcuts and found/collected timber and everyday materials. Some of the pieces (or maybe their precursors) were used as floating ornaments on various ponds or harbours. This is from his exhibition notes:

“Bush and agribusiness, nature and culture: the curves reflect a European intellectual heritage washed up on our far-flung shore and left to wreak havoc. It is the cruelty of extreme beauty, that pared back shape, those subtle changes of radius, a seemingly serene intransigence but mathematics is at the heart of surveying, mapping and building.”

Big tensions – playfully resolved, with a mischievous glint in his eye, by John Lyall, who appeared in this blog before.

Go see the exhibition, it runs to October 9; and if the curves – or some of their representations – are not your cup of tea, you will find something amongst the other works in the show.

Read about rose curves. Read about the lemniscate of Bernoulli.

The Rose Rational (John Lyall)

The Lemniscate of Bernoulli (John Lyall)