The work:Anton Hart, Sam Duckor-Jones, Profile of an Artist, 2022. 3D printed sand sculpture, 26 x 22cm. $2,000.Courtesy: the artist
“Working with cutting-edge media and creative technology allows me to explore ideas about representation and identity in a new way,” says Wellington-based artist Anton Hart, “reinterpreting traditional images and objects using modern materials and techniques.” This innovative practice can be seen at work in Sam Duckor-Jones, where Hart has used 3D printing to create a curious vessel from dark-coloured sand. At first the shape of the work may seem unfamiliar, but upon closer inspection the rolling bands of curved sand reveal themselves as something distinctly recognisable against the negative space of the gallery wall. As part of his Profile of an Artist series, Hart uses the contours of the vessel to delineate a recognisable silhouette of an artist who has influenced him, in this case the sculptor and poet Sam Duckor-Jones. Hart has cleverly designed this vessel so that the profile can be seen at all angles, inviting the artist’s audience to move around the piece in prolonged contemplation. Each aspect of the work — its subject, medium and composition — slowly reveals itself upon prolonged contemplation. “I like to take known objects and turn them on their head,” says the artist, “encouraging the viewer to think and look twice”.