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Following
a successful visit to Germany and the UK in the summer of 2006,
Willem Heyneker, a resident of Perth, Western Australia, is set to
enjoy international recognition as an artist. For much of his life,
Willem worked as a pilot in the UK, Africa and Australia, a career
that afforded him the opportunity to survey distinctive landscapes,
vegetation and rock formations many thousands of feet below him. The
topographical contours of the different regions embedded themselves
in his mind over the years, and now inspire his imagination to shape
and direct his artistic creations. Other influences include his
upbringing in Sri Lanka where gemstones and jewellery were endemic to
the culture. His interest in ethnic jewellery from Asia, the Far
East, and Africa, particularly the jewellery worn by Zulus, has also
contributed to the creativity which is at the root of each quality piece.
Every
item of jewellery – he prefers to use the term ‘body
sculpture’ – is crafted as a exclusive piece of work which
has a history and special meaning in the artist’s mind. To
produce two pieces exactly the same does not belong in his
repertoire. The very nature of his craftmanship is such that the
creative process is subject to the way a metal ‘behaves’.
“There are no set limits or boundaries to which way the metal
may respond,” he said, adding that “this is what makes each
piece so unique.”
Since
graduating from Curtin University in 2004, Willem's work has been
hailed not only by a growing number of enthusiastic private
collectors, but by the cognoscenti both in Australia and now in
Europe. His work is being exhibited at various exclusive galleries
around Perth, but thanks to his European trip, is having even greater
exposure elsewhere in the world. As well as the Upfront Gallery in
Cumbria, it is being shown at the Galerie Raum and Kunst in Hamburg.
There are also plans to exhibit in Montreal and Mallorca.
International
is where he is heading, but where is the market for these artistic
creations? Willem is clear in his own head that his work is for all
people everywhere, reflecting as it does his love of nature. But he
is quite specific about the type of person who will buy his body
sculpture. “My work,” he said, “is for people who
truly wish to step out of the ordinary and want to own a unique piece
of jewellery of high quality workmanship.”
Miles
Elwell, U.K. |
