Peter Syndicas

Native Lifeforms
13 NOVEMBER - 30 NOVEMBER
GRAINGER GALLERY

Lifeforms brings together a retrospective of Adelaide
sculptor Peter Syndicas’ practice dating back to 1997
when his figurative twig journey began.
Showcasing some of his personal favourites, alongside
some of the most popular and unique works from the last
two decades within the context of newer forms.

It was in 1997 while on a camping trip in Licola Victoria that Peter hunted down a twig to hold his marshmallows over the campfire. He whittled away on a small branch until he was left with the perfect twig that could hold two marshmallows over the fire at once. It wasn’t until he’d finished all his treats that he noticed an abstract human form in the twig he was holding. At that very moment, he says it was as if his eyes had discovered nature for the first time.

Peter’s chance discovery of that unassuming twig with an abstract human shape began his ongoing study of the figurative form as observed in organic fractals. Twigs – fragile, precious, shaped by the elements. Delicately carved, the revealed forms have been translated on a magnified scale and immortalised in bronze, steel and stone – a stark contrast to their fragile nature.

Syndicas has had no institutional training as a sculptor. He innovated his techniques mainly through trial and error and an ambition to recreate these forms of his on a grander scale. Over the years he has become quite proficient in a wide variety of mediums and has a special passion for working in stone. In particular he has focussed specifically on working in varieties of Australian marbles, granites and stromatolites.

Syndicas continues to explore his fascination of fractals in nature and takes great pleasure in the fact that he has an infinite source of inspiration surrounding him.