BIOGRAPHIC NOTES & CV 2012
CAROLINE ROBINSON
LAND ART - SCULPTURE - STORY
www.carolinerobinson.co.nz
BIOGRAPHIC NOTES 2012
Bachelor of Arts,
Sociology and Psychology
Born Stratford, Taranaki, New Zealand 1968
I work with a unique synthesis of sense of place research, visual arts communications, land art and sculpture making. For more than two decades the core of my art and design work has encompassed deep environmental philosophies, celebrating the patterns and rhythms of nature, and people and place mythologies. With a focus on multidisciplinary civic projects in the past 15 years, my large scale work includes public art and involvement in urban design master planning, civic construction and infrastructure projects, all of which utilize my highly collaborative methods.
My recent projects include the collaborative design and construction of a 60 metre long stone footbridge, which is an iconic feature of the Albany Lakes Reserve Project, commissioned by Auckland Council, New Zealand.
Other infrastructure projects include the design and delivery of large scale land and bridge artworks for the Grafton Gully Motorway Project, and contribution to the urban design team’s conceptual design stages of the SH18 Hobsonville Deviation / SH16 Brigham Creek Extension Motorway Project (Auckland, NZ). As a member of the Isthmus Group led urban design team, I contributed to masterplanning with the Panmure and Glen Innes town centre redevelopment projects for Auckland City Council (2002-2003). In Panmure, one outcome of this work was the ‘Panmure Sense of Place Scrapbook’, a 100 page book
celebrating Panmure’s living heritages with 600 photographs and artworks. My work in Glen Innes included an interactive sculptural space titled ‘embrace’, created in collaboration with members of the local community.
All of these projects reflect my passion for the integration of art with design, engineering and construction processes. Recognition of my work includes a Judges Commendation in the Emerging Small and Medium Business category of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Northern (NZ) Region’s Sustainable Business Awards 2007.
CAROLINE ROBINSON - COMMISSION RESUME 2012
(selected commissioned projects)
LUNA - ALBANY BUSWAY STATION CARPARK EXTENSION PROJECT ARTWORK (in construction 2012)
Design and build 8m high stone sculptural installation as integral part of carpark extension. In collaboration with OPIE, WEC, GHD, Katsura, Scottish Stone Walls and others. Commissioned by Auckland Transport.
ALBANY LAKES ART BRIDGE 2006-2009
Design and build 60mx5.5m concrete / stone / steel footbridge and weir. Collaboration with Beca (engineers), Soul Environments Landscape Architects, Lightworks, and NZ Strong Construction Ltd. North Shore City.
RANGITOTO ISLAND WHARF PROJECT (on hold)
Design and build 97m long functional wharf on Rangitoto Island. Collaboration with Duffill Watts Ltd (engineers). Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, Auckland.
SH18 HOBSONVILLE DEVIATION / SH16 BRIGHAM CREEK EXTENSION MOTORWAY PROJECT 2008-2009
Lead Artist / Arts Advisor large scale integrated arts/design elements for new motorway. Transit NZ / Waitakere City Council.
MCLENNAN (delayed)
Integrated / site specific public artworks for a 450 residential housing development. McConnell Property, Papakura.
PANMURE TOWN CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT 2007
Steel feature sculptural ‘screen’ 8mx2.7m for Queen’s Road Re-Development, Stage Two. Auckland City Council.
TE HAPUA BAY RESORT DEVELOPMENT 2004-2006
30m land art entrance feature, sense of place storytelling, contribution to masterplanning. Bearing South Ltd, Lake Taupo.
POMPALLIER ESTATE FEATURE ENTRANCE 2005-2006
Large scale earth, stone/steel installation for subdivision entrance feature. Society of Mary, Whangarei.
NORTHERN GATEWAY MOTORWAY PROJECT 2005-2006
Concept development for 300m Land Art Project, Northern Gateway (motorway) Project. Boffa Miskell, Auckland. Unrealised.
‘ABUNDANCE BASKET’ 2006
1m mild steel basket, Private commission.
‘EMBRACE’ 2004
Sculptural installation, Mayfair Place Mall. In collaboration with members of Glen Innes Community. Auckland City.
‘PUNATAPU LABYRINTH’ 2004
Stone labyrinth land art, 8m diametre. Punatapu (5 star) Lodge, Queenstown.
‘MAUMAHARA MO WAIPARURU Remembering Ancient Pathways’ 2003
Land art installation new motorway development, 80mx30m Grafton Gully, Auckland. Freeflow Alliance (Transit NZ)
'ROPEWORKS' 2003
Steel sculpture, 18mx6m, Wellesley Street bridge, Grafton Gully, Auckland. Freeflow Alliance (Transit NZ)
TEWHATEWHA 2004
Sculpture, 13m high. Collaboration, led by Ngati Whatua O Orakei. Grafton Gully. Freeflow (Transit NZ)/Auckland City.
‘WAYFINDER’ 2001
New Lynn Community Centre participatory entrance sculpture. Mild steel/copper 6.5m. Waitakere City Council.
‘KAITIAKI’ 2001
North Egmont Visitor’s Centre. Supplejack/copper sculpture 4.5x4.5m. Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai.
‘BASKET OF DREAMS’ 2000 (pictured above)
Interactive sculpture. Steel/stone 2.8mx1.5m. Queenstown Millennium Project, Millennium Steering Committee.
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Member Profile
Caroline Robinson:
www.carolinerobinson.co.nz
ART WITHIN LANDSCAPE AND ARCHITECTURE
personal and collective mythology
Ideas about place making are changing, as our society feels the torque of the unsustainable environmental pressures we have put on the earth. Added to the rise of complexity in our social and cultural dynamics, these challenges evoke a call for a deeper humanity and a more bold imagination. Being at the heart of this collective conversation is what art means to me, exploring questions about who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going.
I sculpt and build with durable materials such as stone, steel and earth, animating public and private spaces with a raw physicality and mythology. The wisdom embedded within each context inspires me, and I use both instinct and active research to draw connections through cultural memory and identity, geology, biology and the full diversity of life expressed within our physical landscapes. The engagement and enhancement of this richness is both provocative and practical as a way of thinking about the future landscapes we are building.
