Marian Fountain

I work constantly and alternately between sculpture and medals, because sculpture is concerned with form, whereas a medal lends itself to a more narrative duality, whereby one can hone in to the microcosm, as though looking through a microscope, to find out about the nature of something . There, one can attain a more contemplative situation, the ‘two sides to the coin’, the yin-yang, the positive and the negative. The fact that it is held in the hand, and is usually presented as a gift, makes it a wonderful opportunity to express succinctly many various and intimate things, which a gift or prize inherently requires. Both sculpture and medal art have rich traditions in a plethora of cultures as a source of reference and inspiration for our contemporary situation of exchange. Medal art in particular has recorded particular incidents of cultural and economic connexions for millennia. In commissioned work especially I feel that the client and I work together to project this concept into the future, by bringing about an object which will last.

Bronze casting - lost wax process Struck medals: various finishes : patination, gold leaf, gold or silver plate

1981 Crown Crystal Award, for design of crystal goblets 1984 Elizabeth II Arts Council Major Travel Grant 1990 Artist's Residency, National Gallery of Modern Art, Scotland 1990 'Prix de Sculpture' First Prize, French Mint 1993 Lipworth Committee Sculpture Prize

1979-82 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Design Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, NZ 1985-6 Scuola della Medaglia, Rome Mint, Italy

Coins and Medals Dept, British Museum Auckland Museum, NZ Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC York Museum Private Collectors : Bernard Mouscadet, Frances Dinely, Giancarlo Lodigiani

- Work Published in British Museum magazine: The Medal - Contribution to the magasine ‘Be Creative’ (explaining techniques) Catalogues - For exhibition at Galeria Scneider, Rome 1986 - Museo Archeologico e Numismatico, Milan 1990 - ‘Muse and Mother’, York Museum 1995 - ‘Life Forms’ Simmons Gallery, London 1997 - ‘Retour aux Sources’, exhibition ponsored by Air NZ, 2000