Ukrainian refugees will benefit from a Hunter Valley blacksmiths sculpture exhibition, which opens in Sydney on Tuesday (April 5).
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Branxton contemporary blacksmith, Will Maguire, who has a 15-year association with Ukrainian blacksmiths, will donate 10% of sales to the United Nations refugee appeal.
His exhibition, at Traffic Jam Galleries, Neutral Bay, begins on April 5 and will run until April 26.
"The pitiless Russian invasion of the Ukraine is sickening and I felt I had to do some small, positive thing to support people unfairly under attack," Maguire said.
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As a journeyman blacksmith, travelling the world 15 years ago, the Ukraine was one of the first places he went, and took part in an international blacksmithing festival.
"It began with a raucous overnight train from Kyiv to a festival in Ivano-Frankivsk" That journey set the tone of unconditional welcome and hospitality where our only commonality was a shared love of forging steel and a desire to work together, build friendships and share knowledge.
"I've kept in touch with some of the people I met there and worked with a couple who have since come to Australia to teach a blacksmithing masterclass over here" Maguire said.
Maguire's show is called Porous and quivering and is not your average scrolls and ironmongery. He uses the ancient craft of forging steel as a medium for sculpture and has spent the much of last year producing work for this new show. The work is a culmination of extensive training and experience as a blacksmith and the completion of a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at the University of Newcastle during the covid-19 pandemic.
He has coupled these skills with inspirational ideas of philosopher Jane Bennett around the vibrancy of matter to create a series of sculpture which evoke a sense of material vitality.
Bennett describes the structure of steel as "a lively arrangement of irregular curved-edge and polyhedra, loose atoms, voids and cracks" where these metal grains, gaps and "quivering free atoms" are in constant conversation, pressing on and responding to their neighbours in shifting feedback spirals and porous boundaries.
Maguire went on to explain, "I wanted to try to capture this hidden liveliness of material which Bennett describes so well. I want to bring a visual vitality to what we think of a cold hard steel, to show material as a worthwhile and active agent in its own right."
"I loved the way Bennett writes about matter and metal in particular and wanted to approach making work with these ideas in mind. To think of the material as part of the process of making and embrace the ways it reacts with other elements such as heat, air, and force. Many of the forms I have used display the folds, marks and even tearing created from the heat and forces used to make them the finishes show the materials themselves either left raw or coated with a clear wax to enhance the nature features of the material."
Will admits this talk of vibrancy and lively matter can get a bit much sometimes and would be just as happy if each work could be appreciated for its beautiful form and craftmanship, "I do like the philosophy side of it but some days what really does it for me are simply well crafted joints and interesting shapes".
The show is on at Traffic Jam Galleries in Neutral Bay and will run from April 5th to 26th. The opening event is Saturday, April 9 from 2 to 4 pm. All welcome.
You can follow wills work through Instagram @maguirewill or contact him through his website www.willblacksmith.com.au
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