A Complicated State of Being
by Simon Rigg
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Simon Rigg
Carving stone has a magic process to me. It can be transformed from a hard, rough, jagged texture to something soft, flexible, and elegant. As a medium, I am passionate by the inherent surprises I find when cutting and polishing marble: the color change, the oily like skin touch, the crystal clarity, and the sharpening of its veins. Combining this process with the experience of the cold feel of steel tools is physically exhausting, but there is an overwhelming sense of oneness, allowing me a deeper exploration into the work.
Since the making of a marble sculpture is a process of removal and discovery, I enjoy the discipline and excitement at the very beginning of a work. Once you start eliminating material there is no turning back.
As a central process of uncovering and testing the boundaries of marble, I started combining other materials. With these different materials I was testing the belief that marble is perceived as something hard and enduring.
As I wanted to shift the strength and dominance of marble, I started a series called Enclosures, “Nesthouse”, where frameworks made from ribs of marble are wrapped and bound in strands of rattan. Within the enclosed section, there is a compact selection of smooth beach and river rocks with intact eggshells.
The ingredients were finely and intimately bound together with wax thread. If you were to cut the thread in any one place, the sculpture would entirely fall apart.
All materials will progressively behave in different ways under stress. In that way, they are no different from us. It’s at the final breaking point when you make a significant discover, a new friendship with the material. It’s then that a new conversation begins.
With my new series “A Complicated State of Being,” I am experimenting in unorthodox ways to construct and present completed cut sections of marble that embellish a more malleable form. In this process it is my intent to stay well outside of the safety zone in what is visually expected from marble. This is the only way to discover not just how much I can extract from the material, but also what I can extract from myself. The latter can make this a much harder process than working with marble.
Curriculum vitae
Commissions
2007 Waves – Hage Engineering New York NY
2000 Guardians – Crown Casino, Yarra Promenade – Melbourne, Australia
1995 Babylon – 101 Collins Street – Melbourne, Australia
1996 Eclipse – Victoria, Australia
1996 Celebration – Victorian College of the Arts, School of Dance, Australia
1996 Four Seasons Ballet – Victorian College of the Arts, Malthouse Theatre – Melbourne, Australia
1995 Voices – Australian Council for Women – UN Conference on Women, Beijing, China
1991 Cosmos – 101 Collins Street – Melbourne, Australia
1990 Hanging Rock – Central Victoria, Australia
1989 Water Sculpture – Burnley Horticultural College – Melbourne, Australia
Group Exhibitions
2012 NEXT Best Art Center, Youngstown, OH USA
2012 Open The Window, NEXT Best Art Center, Youngstown OH USA
2007 Fragile Feather to Stone – Culture Center – New York, USA
2007 The Only Constant – Anita Traverso Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
Open Studios at EFA New York, New York
2006 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2005 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2004 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2003 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2002 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2001 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
1999 Mechanics – Pacifico Fine Arts Gallery – New York, USA
1996 At Heidelberg Three – Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital Installation
1996 Re-View ’96 – Gallery 101 – Melbourne, Australia
1994 Sculptors’ Association of Victoria – Melbourne, Australia
1983 Drawings & Sculpture – Young Originals Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
1976 Paintings – Originals Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
Solo Exhibitions
1996 Recent Sculpture – Gallery 101 – Melbourne, Australia
Artist in residence and works with other artists
1997 Herring Island Environmental Sculpture Park Melbourne, Australia
Assistant to Andy Goldsworthy
1997 Artist in Residence – Northcote Potteries – Melbourne, Australia
Artist in Residence – Henderson’s Marble and Granite – Melbourne, Australia
1996 Artist in Residence – Parks Victoria, Longridge National Park – Victoria, Australia
Grants
2003 Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York USA
Collections
Crown Casino, Melbourne Australia
Parks Victoria, Victoria Australia
101 Collins Street, Melbourne Australia
Private collections Australia and USA
Since the making of a marble sculpture is a process of removal and discovery, I enjoy the discipline and excitement at the very beginning of a work. Once you start eliminating material there is no turning back.
As a central process of uncovering and testing the boundaries of marble, I started combining other materials. With these different materials I was testing the belief that marble is perceived as something hard and enduring.
As I wanted to shift the strength and dominance of marble, I started a series called Enclosures, “Nesthouse”, where frameworks made from ribs of marble are wrapped and bound in strands of rattan. Within the enclosed section, there is a compact selection of smooth beach and river rocks with intact eggshells.
The ingredients were finely and intimately bound together with wax thread. If you were to cut the thread in any one place, the sculpture would entirely fall apart.
All materials will progressively behave in different ways under stress. In that way, they are no different from us. It’s at the final breaking point when you make a significant discover, a new friendship with the material. It’s then that a new conversation begins.
With my new series “A Complicated State of Being,” I am experimenting in unorthodox ways to construct and present completed cut sections of marble that embellish a more malleable form. In this process it is my intent to stay well outside of the safety zone in what is visually expected from marble. This is the only way to discover not just how much I can extract from the material, but also what I can extract from myself. The latter can make this a much harder process than working with marble.
Curriculum vitae
Commissions
2007 Waves – Hage Engineering New York NY
2000 Guardians – Crown Casino, Yarra Promenade – Melbourne, Australia
1995 Babylon – 101 Collins Street – Melbourne, Australia
1996 Eclipse – Victoria, Australia
1996 Celebration – Victorian College of the Arts, School of Dance, Australia
1996 Four Seasons Ballet – Victorian College of the Arts, Malthouse Theatre – Melbourne, Australia
1995 Voices – Australian Council for Women – UN Conference on Women, Beijing, China
1991 Cosmos – 101 Collins Street – Melbourne, Australia
1990 Hanging Rock – Central Victoria, Australia
1989 Water Sculpture – Burnley Horticultural College – Melbourne, Australia
Group Exhibitions
2012 NEXT Best Art Center, Youngstown, OH USA
2012 Open The Window, NEXT Best Art Center, Youngstown OH USA
2007 Fragile Feather to Stone – Culture Center – New York, USA
2007 The Only Constant – Anita Traverso Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
Open Studios at EFA New York, New York
2006 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2005 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2004 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2003 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2002 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
2001 Open Studio – Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts – New York, USA
1999 Mechanics – Pacifico Fine Arts Gallery – New York, USA
1996 At Heidelberg Three – Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital Installation
1996 Re-View ’96 – Gallery 101 – Melbourne, Australia
1994 Sculptors’ Association of Victoria – Melbourne, Australia
1983 Drawings & Sculpture – Young Originals Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
1976 Paintings – Originals Gallery – Melbourne, Australia
Solo Exhibitions
1996 Recent Sculpture – Gallery 101 – Melbourne, Australia
Artist in residence and works with other artists
1997 Herring Island Environmental Sculpture Park Melbourne, Australia
Assistant to Andy Goldsworthy
1997 Artist in Residence – Northcote Potteries – Melbourne, Australia
Artist in Residence – Henderson’s Marble and Granite – Melbourne, Australia
1996 Artist in Residence – Parks Victoria, Longridge National Park – Victoria, Australia
Grants
2003 Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York USA
Collections
Crown Casino, Melbourne Australia
Parks Victoria, Victoria Australia
101 Collins Street, Melbourne Australia
Private collections Australia and USA
