Peter Brierley-Millman
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" It is important to understand that the natural world is the source of life on our planet, this I respect. I do not cut down living trees, I look for trees which have already been cut down, often many years ago or preserved in the swamp. A tree is a living being, and I seek to reveal the inner beauty of its life to allow the tree to live again as a sculpture.

As an artist, I aim to create works, which communicate to all people. It is important to me that my sculptures can be understood by anyone, regardless of the language they speak, or their cultural background.

I am of course, a New Zealand artist, and this awareness does permeate my work, both in method and message, form and content. My sculpture invites interaction through touch. As people touch the smoothest areas, the oil from their hands is absorbed by the wood, and this creates a beautiful buffed effect. I seek to close the gap between art and viewer. I seek to close the space of time, as these sculptures will last thousands of years.

I am intrigued to be making objects that are specifically designed to last a long time as the pace of western world increases, with the onset of digital age, as narcissuss falls through the mirror. I do anticipate modifying the technology I use to sculpt with, but I think my philosophy will change very little. I love modernism. My work is modern in as much as I am aware of the historical precedents, which influence it:. I demand purity of form, tempered only by sensitivity toward material. The organic nature of trees is essentially fluid, and the source of prefect form is geometry. Somewhere in the realms of these strange attractors is a vital synthesis.

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PBM was born in 1961. He has a degree in fine arts from Auckland University (1989).

He has participated in dozens of exhibitions and won the St Blasien Bildhauer international competition in Germany in 2001. His work is in private collections in nine countries.