
-
Mangemange Maquette
Bronze
600 x 350 x 100 mm
Unique 2021 -
Five Finger – Fruit
Bronze
550 x 330 x 330 mm
2021 A/P Series of 5
Unique -
Lancewood Leaf Maquette
Bronze
160 x 30 x 35 mm
Unlimited edition -
Lancewood Leaf Maquette (Mature) #1
Bronze
140 mm
Unlimited edition -
Lancewood Leaf Maquette (Mature) #2
Bronze
150 mm
Unlimited edition -
Lancewood Leaf Maquette (In Transition)
Bronze
200 mm
Unlimited edition -
Fierce Lancewood (In Transition) #1
Bronze
315 x 65 x 55 mm
Ed. 1/10 -
Fierce Lancewood Leaf (In Transition) #2
Bronze
240 x 50 x 40 mm
A/P
2021 -
Lancewood Leaf (In Transition)
Bronze
310 x 75 x 40 mm
Ed. 1/10
2021 -
Pathfinder – Clematis
Bronze
800 x 635 x 135 mm
Version 4/5
2016 -
Sanctuary
Bronze
60 x 95 x 95 mm
Signed
Version 1 -
Aureole
Cast and fabricated bronze
590 x 575 x 230 mm
Signed
Unique -
Climbing Fern
Bronze
1400 x 400 x 160 mm
Version 1 – Other unique versions in this series are available
Signed
Can be hung from wall -
Pohutukawa – Matariki Version 2
Bronze
750 x 570 x 450 mm
Cast 2020
Unique – series of 5
Signed
Can be hung from wall -
Manuka Autumn
A/P
Bronze
400 x 270 210 mm -
Silver Beech Icon
Bronze
700 x 270 x 130 mm
Signed
Series of 10
Each work is unique -
After the Fall
Bronze
145 x 120 x 110 mm
A/P
2018 -
Paraharaha on Punga Stump – maquette
Bronze
280 x 140 x 130 mm
Series of 10 – each on unique
A/P -
Kanuka Bonsai
Bronze
410 x 400 x 100 mm
Signed
Ed. 5/5 -
Symbiosis- Tanekaha Canopy
Bronze & sterling silver
240 x 230 x 90 mm
Version 2 of 6 unique -
Emergence Maquette
Bronze
200 x 70 x 65 mm
Edition of 10
2010 -
Metamorphosis
Bronze
75 x 45 mm closed
Unlimited edition -
Breakthrough – Oak
Bronze
70 x 70 x 65 mm
Unique series
2019 -
Breakthrough – Pohutukawa
Bronze
95 x 65 x 67 mm
Unique series
2019 -
Breakthrough – Rata
Bronze
113 x 100 x 110 mm
Unique series
2019 -
Camille Claudel – Behind Her Shield
Bronze with patina and Casein
95 mm diameter
Ed. of 10
Signed -
To the Fallen Giant if the Forest
Bronze
125 mm in diameter
Signed
Ed. 10/40 -
Discovered Treasure
Bronze
165 x 300 x 160 mm
Edition of 6
A/P
2014 -
To the Fallen Giants of the Forest
Bronze
120 mm diameter
Edition of 40 -
Form of Nature – Puriri (Small)
Bronze
270 x 155 x 1o5 mm
Ed. 1/10
Monogramed -
Specimen – Pohutukawa
Bronze
390 x 190 x 80 mm
A/P
2018 -
Oracle
Bronze
210 x 290 mm
Ed. 3/10
Born in Wadesboro North Carolina, the son of a professional forester, Jim Wheeler describes himself as an ‘amateur botanist’, studying both art and biology at university. His interest in plants and how plant communities evolve, continues to inform his sculptural practice today.
Jim Wheeler graduated BA with Honours at the University of North Carolina, before becoming an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in the 1970s. In 1981 he immigrated to New Zealand to help set up the Art Works sculpture foundry.
A member of Medal Artists New Zealand, his reputation as one of the country’s foremost bronze sculptors has led to a number of significant commissions, including the NZ Olympic Academy Leonard A. Cuff Medal, The Arts Foundation of NZ Governors’ Medal and the America’s Cup Medal.
Jim Wheeler’s large-scale commissions are grounded in nature and exemplify both his skill as a sculptor and his passion for environmental issues. One such commission, Pohutukawa/Rata Descending, measures 2.5 metres across and can be seen, suspended mid-air, in the atrium of 280 Queen Street, Auckland. The installation commemorates the vanished natural environment. It recalls the time before Auckland was built, when Queen Street was still a streambed. On the bush-clad hillside, trees would have overhung this stream and a ‘falling’ Pohutukawa or Rata flower would have been a commonplace sight.
A full-time art practitioner since 1989, Wheeler has been exhibiting for over thirty years. His work is held in The British Museum, London; The Weatherspoon Art Museum, USA; The Auckland Museum and The Wallace Arts Trust. He has been included in major New Zealand sculpture exhibitions including Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanic Gardens, Brick Bay Sculpture Park, Sculpture Onshore and Sculpture on the Gulf.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS AT ARTIS
2015 – Nature as Metaphor, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2010 – Stalking Nature, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
1980-1979 Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
1975-1973 University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art (cum laude)
1973-1971 University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee, USA.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 – Nature as Metaphor, August 2015
2010 – Stalking Nature, ARTIS 2010
1997 – The Presence of Trees, Ferner Galleries, Auckland
1997 – Sacred Sights, The Drawings Gallery, Auckland
1990 – Pumphouse, Auckland
1986 – Recent Bronzes, RKS Art, Auckland
1982 – Landscapes, Monuments and Variations on a Torn Circle, RKS Art, Auckland
1981 – Diametrical Bronzes, RKS Art, Auckland
COMMISSIONS
2003 New Zealand Olympic Academy, Leonard A. Cuff Medal
2002 Arts Foundation of New Zealand, Governors’ Award designer
2000- 2001 Kanuka Bonsai, private commission
2000 XXX America’s Cup 2000 NZ, Winner & Contender’s Medal
1998, 97, 95, 94 PA Consulting Group. Annual Corporate gift
1997 Scott’s College, Wellington, Information Technology Award
1996 Genesis: Courtyard bronzes of volcanic islands and lava flows, Hobson Gardens, Auckland
1995 Battle for the Solomons, commemorative WWII medal, Ferner Galleries, Auckland
1990 Craig Steele Trophy, Auckland Grammar School.
AWARDS/HONOURS
1999 British Museum purchase of medallion, Balanced Change, for
the exhibition Size immaterial: hand held sculptures of the 1990s.
1996: Research grant from Manukau Institute of Technology to develop alternative bronze casting process.
1992: QEII Arts Council Grant to build a bronze casting studio.