Sean Crawford
Laser Cut Metal Art NZ
Sean Crawford is an internationally acclaimed New Zealand sculptor and storyteller from the rural Wairarapa. He works in a range of materials, including taxidermy, mixed media art, and laser-cut metal art (NZ), and is inspired by NZ landscapes, history, and social and environmental issues.
Bio
It is not the object that defines us - it merely implicates us.
Sean Crawford is a successful New Zealand sculptor who has attained national and international recognition for his innovative multimedia and steel artwork. Originally Wellington-based but now living in the rural Wairarapa, his works are collected nationally and overseas. Known for having a layered approach to his art, Sean works in corten steel, laser-cut steel, reclaimed timber, and taxidermy, among other forms. His works are often large—depicting, for instance, a life-size antlered stag head—with intricate details, such as laser-cut fantail shapes or a metal huia bird skull.
Sean’s artistic range includes: stainless steel garden art NZ cut into contemporary life-size animal sculptures; novel indoor and outdoor wall art NZ inspired by what he calls the ‘Pacific Modern’; and ecological art artistically exploring NZ landscapes and history in meticulous, multimedia detail. His inspirations are as varied as they are evolving. Techniques he learned from his boat building father interweave with creativity that frequently highlights environmental and social messages. History plays a role with some of Sean’s works questioning the contradictions of New Zealand's colonial past, whilst also being influenced by the Gothic storyteller Edgar Allen Poe and the paintings of Bill Hammond.
Art and the great outdoors were features of Sean’s childhood. He could draw before he could walk (or so the family story goes!). Holidaying in the Wairarapa, Sean spent his summer helping out on local farms with livestock and pest control. Although he initially trained as a plumber, overseas travel rekindled his passion for art and design. On his return to New Zealand, he graduated with an honors degree in Design in 2003, and has been a full-time sculptor ever since.
A highlight of Sean's career to date is his 2015 commission 'Waiting for Hammond', a two metre tall Huia bird sculpture set on a headland overlooking the Irish Sea. In New Zealand, his public work ‘The Head of John Doe’ was installed in Palmerston North in early 2022, and is sited near the entrance to the Te Manawa Arts Centre. His latest public sculpture is found in Masterton (in the Wairarapa). Titled ‘Distant Chant’, this two-piece work is made from corten steel. It stands approximately three meters high and depicts both male and female Huia ‘in flight’.
Sean passionately believes that art should be as accessible as possible to all. His work is now being seen in even more public spaces, both in New Zealand and abroad. Outside the New Zealand embassy in Washington D.C. sits another commissioned piece. This work is titled ‘The Cloak of Remembrance’ and is an embracing cloak made of laser cut red poppies. It's a sign that his ideas, although largely home-grown, are respected and relevant on the world stage.