Artist Workshop Series: Create a Wild Abacus
With Artist Wanda Gillespie
Sunday 29 October, 2-4pm
FREE Event
Suitable for Ages 4-10
Spaces will be limited
In our Artist Workshop Series, local artists share their inspiration and skills with children in a series of free classes.
Join artist Wanda Gillespie in this fun creative workshop where we will create an alternative abacus sculpture. She will demonstrate possible combinations of shapes using rattan and bamboo on a wood footing. Beads, coloured paper, tape and wool can be used to decorate and join parts together.
For the Adults: Gillespie views the abacus as a tool for contemplating the intricacies of value systems encompassing both economic and spiritual dimensions. It serves as a captivating instrument for re-imagining conventional structures, prompting us to scrutinize what we hold dear and the methods by which we assess them.
For the Kids: For Wanda, the abacus is like a magical tool that helps her think about things that are really important, like how much things are worth and what makes our hearts feel happy. It’s like a puzzle that makes her wonder about what things are valuable and how we can measure them.
No reservation required, but spaces will be limited and available on a first-come basis.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wanda Gillespie is a contemporary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand. A belief in the spiritual potency of physical objects drives her work.
Gillespie has established a unique practice centred on the form of the abacus. With her bespoke interpretations of this ancient counting instrument, she explores systems of value and how, within them, the material and the sacred become entwined. Over the past decade she has also refined her craft as a woodcarver through the creation of evocative portrait sculptures, combining detailed and abstracted, ancient and contemporary form. By using traditional craft techniques in contemporary ways, she questions known histories and the nature of reality.
Gillespie has established a significant practice with numerous solo exhibitions, awards and residencies. Her work has been included in several noteworthy museum exhibitions including An Alternative Economics at the Institute of Modern Art, Numinosity at Contemporary Art Tasmania, Future Inheritance: 20 Speculative Objects for a Time to Come for the National Gallery of Victoria Design Week, and several of her pieces are currently exhibiting in the Tel Aviv Craft and Design Biennale, Israel.
