Robert Onnes

“I create figurative sculpture which pares back the subject to it’s essence using smoothly curving lines and surfaces.”

Raised on a farm in the Waikato, I had a keen interest in art while at school. I had a career in electronics and later worked as an electrician and developer. I attended a summer school course on sketching and oil painting run by Michael Shepherd at Elam in Auckland in 1994 and a workshop on abstract painting by Brendan McGorry in 2010. I began making sculpture in 2007 and have shown my work in over twenty
group shows and one solo show. I am a member of the Artist Alliance (NZ)

Major influences include
“The art instinct: beauty, pleasure, & human evolution” by Dennis Dutton.
Cass Sculpture Park, UK.
The work of Anthony Caro


Portfolio:

Sculpture

My sculpture is created from steel or copper plate. These materials forge into substantial forms and yet they display an earthy, organic quality. The techniques I've developed to design and produce this work are hard won. I believe these sculptures are unique in their construction; although they look solid or cast, they are made from metal plate.

I'm very interested in how the constraints of working with flat sheet impact on the design process and the style of the finished object. This is what I think makes my work unique and distinctive.