Terry Stringer ONZM was born in England in 1946 and came to New Zealand in 1952. Stringer’s sculptures fill space in a way that manipulates rather than occupies it, some works using methods first explored by the Cubists in the early 1900’s. Not conforming to traditional illusionistic perspective, Stringer tilts the horizontal space towards the viewer, his bronzes seeming to deny their three-dimensionality as they appear slightly squashed and crumpled at the corners. In other works he enhances the depth instead of suppressing the volume – a skillful use of perspective and shading makes a wall-mounted relief appear to have depth where actually there is very little.

These works are part of the trompe l’oeil tradition, works playing on the ‘trick of the eye’. In his works Stringer does not attempt to make any political or environmental statements, rather the sophisticated objects he creates are to be enjoyed and contemplated upon, providing pleasure, nostalgia and a touch of humour.