Peter Nicholls

Whanganui born Peter Nicholls always considered travel and contact with other cultures to be a key to his learnings and creation of his art. Having studied at both the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts and the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts Peter was selected to represent New Zealand at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games Sculpture Symposium in 1978. This same year saw him travel to Wisonsin to take up a position as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin. While in the USA he took the opportunity to study contemporary American sculpture and began the practice of creating his works in series, his Wisconson series consisting of tall wooden pillars. The works of Nicholls has always been concerned and connected with the land making use of natural materials and often using discarded items adding elements to create new life.