Endurance

Endurance brought new sculpture from Ray Haydon after more than twenty years of practice. At its centre hung Verve, a large ribbon work in carbon fibre and walnut, looping across the wall like a winding, cascading river. With it came the new Accord series of twisted wood on angular steel bases, and two heavyweight outdoor sculptures whose fluid lines belie their weight.

The Accord series set gracefully twisted American white oak and walnut on angular stainless steel bases: a conversation between the organic and the engineered. Endurance II, a tubular cast steel form on stone, and Travel VI in corten steel each dominate the space they stand in, delicate fluid lines against monumental weight. Like much of Ray’s outdoor work, both are made to respond to the elements, weathering gradually into deep crimsons and browns.

The ribbon works were there too, among them Universal III and Evolution IX. Kate Mullins, writing in New Zealand House & Garden that October, described them hanging “like ribbons frozen mid-fall, their shadows playing upon the surfaces around them.”

Every material gets its own celebration: bronze, corten, stainless steel, wood, carbon fibre and veneer. Ray often talks about the “simple flowing lines” of his sculptures and the space they create. Whatever the medium, he is painting the air with it: form, colour and rhythm moving through space.