Pete Morris Art blogger www.sunlive.co.nz

Rex O'Brien is an artist whose main field is stone carving. He works predominantly in Hinuera and Oamaru stone and has recently been incorporating Maratoto stone into his sculpture. He has also been experimenting with sculptural assemblages involving the use of everyday objects.

Rex's work is free flowing in style. The viewer's eye is invited to trace a path around the stone and each angle of view reveals a new interpretation.

Rex O'Brien at work.

In the photo ‘Rex at work' we see a figurative form sculpted from an 800kg block of Oamaru stone. The form represents the chances that cross our paths in life and poses the question: Do we seize opportunities or let them pass us by?

Rex has been carving for 10 years and has shown his work at Tauranga's Garden and Art Festival and throughout the New Zealand. He is 2010 Artist in Residence at Palmer's Garden World in Ohauiti.

Rex is currently completing a Diploma in Arts programme at the BOP Polytech with plans for further study in the future.

Through the study of nature and organic form Rex creates figurative and representational sculptural pieces. Nurture #1 is part of a body of work competed in 2010 that invites us to look at our lives and who we are.

Nurture #1 a sculpture in Oamaru stone - 2010

Rex was born and raised in Mount Maunganui and now resides there with his partner Raewyn and three sons.

Rex can be contacted by email at rexrae@xtra.co.nz

Pete Morris is an occasional painter and art lover. He is a freelance writer with a particular interest in promoting the visual arts in Tauranga.