Oriah Rapley

Oriah Rapley is a full-time artist, currently working in wood, hard stone, bronze and steel. She exhibits throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and has works in private collections both nationally and internationally. Her work has been selected for Brick Bay Sculpture Trail; the Homework exhibitions at Puke Ariki, Ngāmotu New Plymouth; New Zealand Sculpture Onshore, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; the Richard T Nelson Art Awards, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; and Sculpture on the Peninsula, Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula. She has attended many symposia around Aotearoa, including Te Kupenga International Stone Sculpture Symposium, Ngāmotu.

Oriah’s work is in constant refinement towards the purity of form. Using symbols such as the bird, waka and feather, she provides subtle layers interwoven around transformation and empowerment.

More info about Oriah:
oriahrapley.weebly.com

Oriah Rapley, Spirits Flight, 2024, Taranaki andesite, Corten steel, stainless steel rod.

The Burrill People’s
Choice Award
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Part of her Waka and Bird series, Oriah’s work, titled Spirits Flight, is inspired by the pōhutukawa tree at Te Rerenga Wairua Cape Reinga, where spirits are said to leave this land. “The waka to me represents the body, which contains all we need for our journey, and the bird is our guide or subconscious.”

This concept is one Oriah has been developing recently, and Spirits Flight is a further evolution of the series. Here the waka and bird are supported by the abstract form of the single pōhutukawa tree, held aloft ready to leave the earthly plane. The waka will be made from Taranaki andesite, the bird from serpentine and the pōhutukawa from stainless steel.

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