Monomer Art Project
Between Tides is a community art event held most years at Westmere Beach, Auckland.
The brief for the event each year is that the art work must be installed and removed Between Tides on a day in March. It is vital that the art work leaves no trace when removed.
Monomer Art Project is a collaboration between Bryony Matthew and Verena Jonker. Their current works are a response to concerns surrounding the Western culture’s focus on consumption.
After years of collaborating on a professional basis in the film industry, Monomer Art Project is our first artistic project together.
Using post consumer plastic shopping bags collected from friends and family in New Zealand, Verena and Bryony stitched together 15 flags, approx 2 m x 1.2 m which flew at the top of tall bamboo poles attached to metal stands which could sit on top of the sand.
After developing the sculpture for Between Tides in 2010, Bryony and Verena used the project as proof of concept for a successful application to the major biannual sculpture show, Sculpture on the Gulf in 2011.
See here for Ethylene Monomer by Monomer Art Project, Sculpture on the Gulf 2011.
Bryony Matthew was born in Wellington New Zealand in 1973 and studied at Hungry Creek Art and Craft School, Puhoi; and Unitec Design School, Auckland. Now based in Auckland, she has spent the last 15 years working in the New Zealand film industry. Bryony is currently represented by the Letham Gallery in Auckland, and has had several exhibitions over the last 6 years.
Verena was born in the Netherlands in 1973 and emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1979; who were drawn to the vast unspoilt landscapes and the freedom it represented. Initially studying in Auckland, she has lived in towns throughout New Zealand; and traveled extensively overseas, but is now settled back in Auckland. After obtaining a degree in graphic design at AUT she realized that her interest really lay in three dimensional work, and she began working in the TV/film industry. During her fifteen years of experience in this field she has worked as a set sculptor, props maker and art director.