Annabel Menzies-Joyce
Resides Tai Tapu, Waitaha Canterbury
‘Campbell Island is New Zealand’s most southern Subantarctic Island. Sheep farming was attempted between 1895 and 1931, then abandoned and the sheep left to become feral. These abandoned sheep had a huge impact on the unique plant and animal life of the island and were finally removed by 1991.
An enduring image I have is of coming across a sheep skull that had been placed on a tall pole and was oscillating in the incessant subantarctic wind. I am interested in the relics we find that tell us stories of the past, and I work with skull and bones of animals, mainly birds, that in the future may be all that is left of what once was. Restitution is made of cast glass housed in a glass vitrine, suggestive of a museum piece.’
Annabel Menzies-Joyce is a predominantly glass artist, living on a block of land with her husband in Tai Tapu, Waitaha Canterbury. Together they have undertaken the native restoration of their land and formed the well-known Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden – an annual national sculptural exhibition. Annabel has a Diploma of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture from Lincoln University. She is represented by Form Gallery in Ōtautahi Christchurch and has work in both private and public collections, including the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.