Giving life to stone: York Street Gallery
Debbie Templeton-Page’s sculptures seem to have a wairua that yearns to reach out from their solid foundations.
Serene faces that could be dreaming death-masks, abstract geometric forms that fluidly shift and turn; and long, elongated figures stretching to the heavens. The Tasmanian-born artist has established herself as a master-sculptor, honing her craft in Canterbury over the past 25 years. “From the moment I first picked up a hammer and chisel, sculpting has been my passion and obsession,” the artist says.
Based out of her York Street Gallery in Timaru, Debbie’s distinctive sculptural work currently stands alongside a fabulous retrospective of paintings by the late Marilynn Webb. Her sculptures in bronze, clay, and various stones are striking.
Though she has worked across many sculptural materials over the years, bluestone is the medium she most frequently returns to. “It is a natural resource quarried in Timaru, and is a part of the local shoreline and hills,” says Debbie. “The natural beauty that emulates from the stone just amazes me.”
Working in bluestone is no simple task. The rock is extremely hard. Because of this, the stone can hold crisp, sharp lines that seem to emerge. There’s an ancient and ethereal quality to bluestone carvings and Debbie’s sculptures are great examples of this. Figures in her work feel as though they have been drawn out of their hiding places in the rock. “Sculptures and rocks are always twisting and turning in my mind, inspired not only by the way they look, but also the way they feel.”
As well as the York Street Gallery, Debbie is currently exhibiting at Timaru’s Aigantighe Art Gallery and will feature her work at Ōtautahi’s Chambers Art Gallery later this month.
Find her work at 21 York Street, Seaview, Timaru.
yorkstreetgallery.com | debbietempletonpage.com
