Mervyn Williams: Late Harvest

Mervyn Williams has established a distinguished career as a painter and printmaker but his practice has sometimes involved sculpture, as his reliefs made in Whanganui from recycled timber demonstrate. Also, his interest in virtual and real textures in his two dimensional works encroaches upon sculptural concerns with depth as well as surface. But, his recent move into free-standing sculpture is a radical one which is unusual in New Zealand where painters and sculptors of his generation normally remain in separate camps. However, he is driven by his own inspiration as an artist and has the versatility to move where it takes him, as was the case with major masters like Picasso and Matisse. It also brings him into line with contemporary artists who often work across various media as need requires. Since 2016 sculpture has been the main focus of his art and painting has receded to a secondary position.

Like his paintings they appear international in conception. Anything trivial, anecdotal or narrative has been erased or deleted. At present the sculptures are of a domestic scale and can fit into the spaces of an average house or courtyard area. Not all of them are fabricated out of materials that would withstand the ravages of constant outdoor exposure, although Williams likes the idea of time and weather giving a patina of age and character to the outdoor works. 

There is elegance and subtlety in these works that appear somewhat open ended, as if one could add sections to them and make them taller still. It recalls the idea behind Brancusi’s Endless Column that envisaged this development. By contrast, the inward curving works, like Acrobat, 2017, are gravity bound and rest firmly on the plinth.

Michael Dunn