Graham Bennett

Graham Bennett has been a designer for a number of Peter Falkenberg's productions, including: Salome (1994), 1984 (1984), Crusoe (1998) and most recently Free Theatre opened  Bennett's exhibition Axis + Axes at Canterbury Museum with a short performance The Axe (2021) inspired by Allen Curnow's play.

Born in Nelson, Bennett graduated from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, where he trained in photography. His practice evolved to sculpture because of his interest in forms within three-dimensional space, particularly the human figure. This combined with his overseas travels after art school led to an ongoing fascination with movement, maps, navigation, measurements, and the shaping of identity through associations with place.

Stainless steel, stone, wood, or bronze, large scale public sculpture, intricate miniatures, or mixed media drawings, Graham's work is "based in the patterns and place of Aotearoa New Zealand - but it has a universality that resonates internationally and cross culturally. It derives from a knowledge of history and humankind, an emotive bond between identity and place and an enquiring mind that is alert to questions of connection. Painstaking examination of detail and an awareness of the broader framework, coupled with an eye that is tuned to pattern and shape, is the essence of Graham Bennett's work." (Robin Woodward) These qualities can be seen in the environmentally responsive works, moving with the wind or casting dramatic shadows to create yet another trajectory.
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Graham's public sculptures grace the foreground of the Christchurch Art Gallery and Connell's Bay Sculpture Park and Rocky Bay on Waiheke Island as well as Kurashiki City in Japan, among others. Graham has held numerous solo exhibitions throughout New Zealand and Japan and has participated in group shows internationally.