John van Zeeland , Obession (ART & OBJECTS 2024)

Photos:

John van Zeeland

My artistic obsession is in designing and constructing pieces of art for display on walls or as templates for tables and clocks. With a shoestring budget, I make use of rescued and recycled veneer offcuts and leftover pieces of timber, transforming my designs into unique handmade Bespoke Art. No 1 Title: DAHLIA / Dahlia Leaves - a large wall hung clock. Photo No (3655). R75 Size 750mm approx. in diameter. Contours of veneer and based on 75mm radii of reclaimed veneer of Tasmanian Ash and Jarrah that were water damaged by the Toowoomba floods of 11th January 2011 reclaimed on this clock face, in multi-sections joined on the grain line to camouflage the joints. The only new material are 4mm thick bracing plywood to construct the 750mm diameter sub frame. the gird ring containing twelve mitered sections of reclaimed 16mm thick MDF, from used pattern layout boards to stiffen the top plywood, overlapping the mitered joint by 4mm bracing plywood making the clock stand out 24mm from the wall and 0.6mm for veneer just under 4kg in mass weight. Reclaimed veneers are in the front face and edge banding consisting of Tasmania Ash in lieu of Victorian Ash, being lighter in coloring but more expensive back in the 1993's. Obtaining a large amount of 3mm, 9mm, 12mm & 16mm MDF seconds from used packing boards protection, used for pattern making & layout now recycled as a mitered stiffening ring on the back of the board overlapping the joint by a mitered 4mm thick offcut of bracing plywood. This artwork in recycling & rescued reclaimed veneer and MDF boards was completed in May 2024. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No 2 Title: ALESIA (Under Siege) Zodiac Crab, the double helix of DNA and Narcissus. Photo No (3506) Combined Icons designed on a 1200mm round board, depicting struggle and hope, for a renewed beginning! The tri-factor of cancer, the faintest of the twelve zodiacal constellations, or is it the most allusive to combat or capture? One: according to Greek mythology, Cancer represents a Crab that attacked Hercules during his fight with Hydra. The crab was crushed underfoot during the struggle. Two: The Siege by Julius Caesar in 52 BCE, besieging the Vercingetoix fortress of Alesia in east-central France to the North-West of Dijon. Three: The girth of Narcissus the Daffodils flowering in spring, represents rebirth and hope as a new beginning, as illustrated on the art piece. An original design by John van Zeeland, completely handmade by the artist, approx. 240 hours from start to completion of this artistic designed art work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No 3 Title: SILVER FERN, in three veneers types. Photo No (3504) An Art display, costly in its construction, time frame, and undertaking; an exercise in its simplistic complexity on display! The undertaking of this art project was in "A Waste not Want not" aim using three types of offcuts, and left-over timber veneer, which was no longer needed and destined for land fill or scrap. The Silver Fern art work displayed is a wall mounted oval board of 4:3 ratio size set, some 50mm off the wall, 1200mm wide by 900mm height, approx. 1000mm in total length. The Main veneer is quarter-sawn "Sapele” as a back ground, "Sycamore" for the Silver Fern, the spline veneer is unknown, mounted on a 20mm thick marine plywood base cut out of an odd shape leftover. (Donated offcut was retrieved and in storage for a number of years). The Size of offcut 1200mm by 900mm oval. The design idea came to me for multiple sections of offcut leftovers of" Sycamore" and quarter sawn "Sapele" to be used here. An experimental art work that has taken 600 hours for completion. The Silver Fern has been accepted as a national identity of New Zealand since the 1880's and I, the Artist, would like to see it displayed in a public space there! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No 4 Title: Drone Bee on Honey Comb & DNA, for Jarrah Manuka Honey Photo No (3505) Size 1200mm diameter wall board approx., wall-mounted 50mm depth from wall. This inspiration came from the ABC program "Landline" in February 2018, re Western Australia’s Research Institute into bee and honey production. Back in January 2021 I was unable to afford the transport cost to Western Australia. I had offered the Art Work to the Institute for Bee and Honey Production! They have not taken up the offer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No 5 Title: WORKER BEE AND HONEY COMB Clock Face 585mm diameter Worker Bee on Honeycomb. Photo No (3510) Constructed Honey comb came from salvaged small leftover "African Ash" veneer, too small to use apart from cutting 10mm equal-angle triangles for the honey comb and other veneers an exercise in limiting overall wastage! Installed on the wall of our Home office. I trust that you can appreciate the final outcome as much as our family does! All of my artworks have a major element of recycling, being constructed from leftovers, offcuts and discarded timber, minimizing the use of new materials, with the exception of offcuts when available. In construction, I use PVA glue, veneer from sample folders obtained in 1993 or 1994, and offcuts donated by several individuals and firms in the past encouraging my artistic hobby. Most of these materials originate before the turn of the century. All marquetry art work submitted for your competition has been wholly designed and manually handmade, cutout and manufactured by my own hands. John van Zeeland.

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