My love affair with nature
I’ve been fascinated by ‘how everything came to be’ from as early as I can remember. I studied palaeontology, geology and astronomy – but it was not until I began to sculpt ancient Kauri that a greater understanding of the life and connections in all things began to flow. Working so intimately with wood drew me further into nature, and the harmony that can be found there. Decades later, my life is still consumed by it.
The unique energy of each piece
Every piece I create has its own story, its own energy. I try to capture and feel this and express its truth by ‘being’ intensely at one with it, until it feels right and the journey becomes clear to me. I often leave some of the natural surfaces of the tree, in appreciation of its natural form and essence.
By sculpting a piece of ancient natural history, I feel I am preserving and sharing something timeless – bridging past and present, and awaking people to the beauty, balance and cycles of nature. There are times when I am working that I stop and look around and think of the miracle it is to be alive, to simply be a human being in nature – a feeling so different from the isolation created by ideologies and pressures of modern living. My work offers a balance to that. A reminder. It is an honour to pass on the appreciation of nature, and the cycles of life, into art forms others can experience and enjoy.
“I have described my work as ‘thought into form’. My most basic intent with every artwork is to remind people that we are simply part of a greater whole… Nature.”
- John Freeman