Nikau II, 2015,Crystallised sandstone, grey and blue stones, 1400 x 3200 x 900mm Nature and change are almost synonymous with the work of Chris Booth. The sculptor has an ordered yet hushed reverence for the land - wherever he walks. Nikau II demonstrates a proficient sculptor’s keen eye for natural form, the revealing of something of nature’s ‘hidden order’. Booth finds this in the nikau; an indigenous plant with a prevalent history, aiding the thatching of roofs, weaving, bowls and food. Nikau II is comprised of a small, delicate pebble structure which sits atop a crystalline sandstone slab from his local region of Northland. The pebble edifice is woven like a blanket, with stainless steel cable tensioning the arcs of pebbles and creating a miniature, hut-like structure. The intricacy of the structure’s braiding out of stone and steel is the mark of a talented artist’s process. Booth states: “For many years it has been a vision of mine to inhabit my art with flora and fauna as well as working with land, nature, spirit [and] community.” Becoming not just a site-specific sculpture but an integral part of the natural environment, Booth’s work grows lichen, algae, moss and fern over time, becoming a mirror of its environment. Nikau II is a temporary shelter for the creatures who wish to inhabit it - like a birdhouse in a tree. Booth’s 1993 artwork In Celebration of a Tor in Cumbria, England, where the hollow of a woven stone ‘tube’ encouraged animals to make a home, signalled the beginning of the artist’s encouragement of living nature within his art. Nikau II, in keeping with Booth’s oeuvre, becomes nature’s dollhouse.
