Impulse
Adrian MAURIKS
Holland / Australia born 1942
arrived Australia 1957
Impulse 2011
Stainless steel, painted fibreglass
Dutch-born Adrian Mauriks arrived in Australia in 1957. He studied at the Victorian College of the Art, Melbourne and subsequently spent some years as a university lecturer in sculpture. While his earlier black-painted metal sculpture could be bleak in mood, the impression created by his later works- carved in polyurethane foam, coated in resin and painted a gleaming white- is one of optimism and vivacity.
His sleek organic forms resemble stylised birds, plants and clouds. This particular work arises from the artist’s interest in Greek mythology and the notion of the hero’s journey that entails a call to adventure, the crossing of metaphorical thresholds and eventual transformation before a homecoming and renewal.
The work is intended to be a metaphor for life. The bird represents the call, the vessel represents the journey, the cluster (the central form) a threshold and the bud (on land) represents rebirth that results from the journey. The forms float and move relative to one another; a continually shifting arrangement indicating the inevitability of change in our lives.