Mobile sculpture

Press, 12 May 1987, Page 9

Mobile sculpture

His sculpture twists, turns and dances and is made from leather. John Lawry, a leather sculptor of Titirangi, is exhibiting his work in Christchurch this week.

A piece central to the exhibition is a tall abstract figure of a woman dancing, made from tan leather, swinging slightly on its base. The leather gleams with a light of its own. It is priced at $935.

Not all of his work carries such a high price tag, but is certainly just as' interesting. Sea pods, fern fronds,

rocks, the human figure, and calligraphy all have inspired Lawry, and this is evident in the sculptures. Sheets of leather which he beat over a riverstone

have been moulded into a variety of objects and forms. Some of these have then been decorated with carving and calligraphy. Lawry has been working with leather for 18 years. After a period when he went bush, he

decided “people were quite fun to be with after all” and became an apprentice to a sandalmaker.

He later began making large tooled wall-hang-ings, but soon decided he wanted them to be more “rugged and New Zealandish.” “So I started to work on different techniques to bring the designs out into relief. I’ve gone on from there so they’re now freestanding,” said Lawry. He has recently returned from two years working in Australia, and the Christchurch exhibition (in the china department of Ballantynes) is his first since he returned.

Lawry hopes to do some commissioned work.