Kate Newby’s Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission, Hours in wind (2024) is a three-part installation inspired by the site of the MCA and Warrane/Sydney Cove.
Hours in wind unfolds across three locations at the MCA: the entrance, a space on Level 2 and the Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace on Level 4. Made from locally sourced and recycled shipping and sailing ropes, cast bronze, and cast and hand-blown glass, Newby’s installation navigates thresholds between interior and exterior space. It captures a sense of place and the constantly changing conditions of the harbour, including unpredictable weather patterns and the shifting light.
Newby was born in 1979 in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand and is currently based in Texas, US. She is known for sculptures and installations made from materials including glass and ceramics, as well as site-responsive works and architectural interventions. Attentive to natural phenomena such as light, wind and other weather conditions, Newby often blurs distinctions between public and private, and interior and exterior space in her works.
The 2024 Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission is generously supported by Lead Patrons Ginny and Leslie Green.