Megan Ransom to exhibit “risque” bronze sculpture

2 March 2009
Nine works by bronze sculptor Megan Ransom will feature in Voyeur, an exhibition aimed at Wellington’s alternative and artistic communities, and opening at the S & M's Cocktail Bar in Cuba Street on 27 March.

Megan says she is deliberately targeting the alternative market in Wellington with her first solo exhibition in bronze sculpture. She describes the work as “a bit naughty and risque” and says she wanted to have some fun making the pieces.

“The works will definitely be conversation pieces in people’s homes,” she says.  “Sculpture can be fun, voluptuous and erotic. What I’m doing is pushing the boundaries and breaking with convention.

“I love art deco and art nouveau. This show was inspired by the famous illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, whose work was extremely risque in the nineteenth century.”

An artist for the past 20 years, Megan has been a fashion designer and contemporary visual artist. She turned to sculpture three years ago and believes she is the only female sculptor in New Zealand, if not in Australasia, involved in the complete process of sculpting – from the moulding and the bronze pour to the grinding, welding and finishing.

Passionate Wellingtonian

“I’ve chosen a very male-dominated field to create in but I love every aspect of sculpting,” she says. “I love the creative process but I also enjoy the hard, physical metal work.”

Megan lives in Miramar, next to Weta Workshop, and describes herself as a “passionate Wellingtonian”. Although she travelled internationally for many years, she says that now, she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Megan is bi-polar and has overcome a history of this condition and of depression – thanks to her strength and determination, her creativity, and the “amazing support” of fellow artists, family and friends.

As a teenager and for much of her adult life, however, she was confused and had no idea who she was.

Soul food

“I’ve never fitted into the mainstream but I’m fine with that now,” she says. “My passion and creativity have helped me accept who I am. For me, creating work is soul food. It also provides me with a purpose because I know I can do it – and do it really well. ”

Megan’s foster family, who live on the Kapiti Coast, are Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou. “Going home is full of te reo, art and culture,” she says. “I am so grateful for the diversity of culture in my upbringing.”

As well as her forthcoming exhibition, Megan has work on display at Koura Gallery in Wellington. Long-term, her goal is to have a flourishing career as a sculptor, creating work for display in Wellington, and doing commissions for the domestic and international markets.