Blue skies and art

Ramon Robertson, “Gravity Bag” (detail). Exhibited at Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanic Gardens 2016. Image: Su Leslie

Ramon Robertson, “Gravity Bag” (detail). Exhibited at Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanic Gardens 2016. Image: Su Leslie

Ramon Robertson, “Gravity Bag” (detail). Exhibited at Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanic Gardens 2016. Image: Su Leslie

I’m a fan of Ramon Robertson‘s work. The Glasgow-born, Auckland-based sculptor explores themes of urbanisation, mass production and human engagement with the built environment, often placing stylised human forms in structural contexts.

Gravity Bag (above):

… is a black timber tower standing at 280 cm with a group of 15 concrete figures standing on top.

The figures depict senior architects, junior architects, planners and contractors who are experimenting with the idea of wearing sand bags to work out an alternative way of assessing the gravity pull on built structures. (Sculptor of the Week — Ramon Robertson, Our Auckland, 11 February 2016)

Because much of his work involves figures — often garbed in unusual ways — atop plinths, to see it close-up means looking upward into surprisingly characterful faces molded from concrete and resin.

In context. Gravity Bag, by Ramon Robertson, installed at the Auckland Botanic Gardens for Sculpture in the Gardens, 2015-6.

We visited Sculpture in the Gardens on a perfect blue day, and I love the contrast between the intense blue sky and the figures — which themselves are a contrast of light and shadow.

Posted to Ragtag Daily Prompt | contrast, and Lens-Artist Photo Challenge | look up