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Karen Sewell’s use of materials in space is simple, sophisticated and magic. Carefully balanced brass rod tripods, each held together with strands of wire, support dense handmade spheres of soil, sand, straw and clay. They are elemental and cosmic, adopting the ancient Japanese dorodango form in which children make ‘mud dumplings’ from soil and water found in the garden. Particles and planets are summoned together in this backyard activity that considers our place as components of the cosmos.

Andrew Clifford 

Director Sargeant Gallery I Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui

Judges statement, MMCA Awards February 2024