{"id":223,"date":"2015-07-11T15:19:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T19:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/sethbruggeman\/?p=223"},"modified":"2015-07-11T16:12:08","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T20:12:08","slug":"grant-vaughan-on-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/sethbruggeman\/2015\/07\/11\/grant-vaughan-on-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant Vaughan: On Place"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I\u2019m thinking about things to do,\u201d explains Grant Vaughan<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ll go for a walk in the bush.\u201d He doesn\u2019t have far to walk. Vaughan hails from New South Wales, Australia, where he lives on eighty-five acres of bushland. Although his work has shifted over the years, variously between sculpture and furniture making, all of it in someway bears the imprint of Vaughan\u2019s love for the landscape that surrounds him. Most telling in this regard are the loping spheres and crisp edges that unfold like leaves from his carvings.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4171\"<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/sethbruggeman\/files\/2015\/07\/GrantEarlyWork.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Vaughan grew up amid the scattering of small towns west of Australia\u2019s Great Dividing Range. Though he briefly studied engineering and architecture at the University of Sydney during the 1970s, the swirl of excitement surrounding Australia\u2019s burgeoning youth counterculture lured Vaughan away from school and deep into the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It was there that he first experimented with wood carving and furniture making, despite having no formal training. \u201cI had my plane blade in upside down for twelve months!\u201d But with time, and guidance from an early mentor, Vaughn began hand-carving organic forms in tables and mirrors, all inspired by his fascination with nature and a taste for Art Nouveau.<\/p>\n

All the while, a revival of interest in hand-crafted furniture had created\u00a0new opportunities for wood artists in Australia. Vaughan joined the Woodworkers Group of New South Wales and began showing his work regularly throughout Sydney, including at a landmark show in the Sydney Opera House. \u201cThat went really well,\u201d he recalls, \u201cI was getting so much work, I couldn\u2019t keep up with it.\u201d Vaughan\u2019s success inspired new creative directions, including a bowl he carved for the Opera House show that prompted a flurry of interest throughout the international woodworking community. Furniture, however, remained Vaughan\u2019s mainstay for many years and sustained him with commissions, including for an elaborate set of exhibit cases showcased in Austrailia\u2019s Parliament House.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4200<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/sethbruggeman\/files\/2015\/07\/GrantTools.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Vaughan\u2019s late return to carving owes, in part, to a broadening appreciation of his work in American galleries during the last decade. It\u2019s a shift that he understands within the context of global economies. Sydney\u2019s emergence as Asia Pacific\u2019s financial center has shifted tastes among Australian collectors while raising real threats to the the landscape that nourishes Vaughan\u2019s work. So, though encouraged abroad, working away from home creates real challenges for someone so powerfully influenced by place. \u201cYou need to get away,\u201d as he puts it, to \u201cdo other things, and come back with a new perspective.\u201d And yet, Vaughan brightens when he speaks about his land and the hundred species of trees he\u2019s discovered there. \u201cUnderstanding the landscape,\u201d he says, is \u201cabout being informed about what you\u2019re looking at.\u201d It\u2019s a conviction that applies just as well to Vaughan\u2019s work and that, in many ways, explains it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I\u2019m thinking about things to do,\u201d explains Grant Vaughan, \u201cI\u2019ll go for a walk in the bush.\u201d He doesn\u2019t have far to walk. Vaughan hails from New South Wales, Australia, where he lives on eighty-five acres of bushland. Although his work has shifted over the years, variously between sculpture and furniture making, all of … <\/p>\n

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