The recent practice of this talanted young sculptor combines his already recognizable use of glistening stainless steel and earthy basalt rock, with striking forms capable of complex movement and dynamism. In doing so Elderfield has dispensed with the traditional form of the sculptural outer shell, instead opting to explore the intricate workings of internal structures.

The visual brunt of Elderfield’s work lies in the interlacing of architectural, industrial and futuristic forms found within our modern material reality. Delighting the viewer with a detailed profundity of forms and textures, assembled together like an elaborate game of Knex, these sculptures lure our curiosity with their formal play of suggestion and asymmetry.

Elderfield has been selected as a finalist in the Montalto Sculpture Prize and the Contempora Sculture Prize, winning the award in 2007. He has undertaken commissions for Kosciusko National Park as well as for a range of large scale commercial projects. His work is included in the National Australia Bank Collection and Rodney & Ann Smorgon Collection as well as numerous private collections throughout Australia.

‘These works are impeccably designed, though the casual
observer, looking at the frequently repeated horizontals and emphatic verticals, would be quite unaware of the difficulty in achieving such precision. The incorporation of numerous geometric shapes, particularly the straight lines, the thin, spiky triangular prisms, the spheres and the squares, is reminiscent of the work of the great sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. But whereas the Italian allows part of the surfaces of his highly polished forms to disintegrate, revealing the complex forms hidden within, Elderfield dispenses with the outer shell entirely and reveals the intricate internal structure.’
Text by Ken Scarlett