Patrick Heath
Domestic Series, 2016
Carved cricket bats, cast cement, steel, 160 x 170 x 20cm
Patrick Heath’s Domestic Series is one of the most disarming and humorous works in the exhibition. Take six ordinary cricket bats, which have clearly seen some big innings’ between them, and carve out a group of totemic-looking figures whose exaggerated appendages speak to more than batting prowess. There is a nod here to Pacific and Maori carving, and an interesting if unintended parallel with the work of New Zealand artist Francis Upritchard, who took to hockey sticks in a not dissimilar way! – Chris Saines CNZM