Parallel Realities - Marian Fountain

Born in Auckland in 1960, Marian Fountain graduated BFA in Sculpture & Design from University of Auckland in 1982. A QEII Arts Council grant in 1984 enabled her to travel to London, where she gained further experience in bronze casting at the Royal College of Art and the Red Bronze Studio. She then moved to Italy where she studied at the Scuola della Medaglia, La Monnaie, Rome (1985-86), before settling in Paris in 1991.

With over 40 years of creating sculptures in bronze, Fountain’s work has been exhibited at the British Museum, National Gallery of Scotland, the Museo Archeologico of Milan, Auckland Museum, and the French Mint. She has designed and made medals for the Commonwealth Games (1990), America’s Cup (2003) and Entente Cordiale (2004). In 2009, her Narratives, a series of 34 bas-reliefs, was installed in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Hospital. Her bronze monument honouring the NZ tunnellers of Arras, The Earth Remembers was commissioned in 2017 to mark the first World War Centenary commemorations at Carriere Wellington Museum, Arras, France.

Fountain melds the rich diversity of European art, history and culture with her NZ roots and the cultures of the Pacific to create works that are compelling and original. Exploring her own metamorphosing ideas of conflict, change and growth, her works demonstrate an environmental awareness and concern for the future.

Named after the title piece, Parallel Realities is an exhibition featuring works created in 2019-20. In these, Fountain uses biological metaphors to illustrate what it is to be alive. By utilising complementary forms on opposite sides of the works, she encourages a deeper conversation. Accompanying these works are recently received medals, bas-reliefs, and sculptures (1988-2023).