Lloyd Godman

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Lloyd Godman (born 17 January 1952, Dunedin, New Zealand) is an ecological artist based in Melbourne, Australia who uses air plants to create living sculptures. He has an MFA from RMIT University Melbourne (1999) and has had over 45 solo exhibitions and been included in more than 250 group exhibitions.

Art practice[edit]

Godman left school aged 15 to be an electrical apprentice at the Evening Star; a local newspaper (now The Otago Daily Times), and it was here that he was introduced to photography. During this time he pioneered photographing rock bands with push processing colour film, and took images of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Joe Cocker. Some of these photographs have since been published in Vogue Magazine, Rolling Stones Gear ^[1] and in The Gigs that Rocked New Zealand, and for the 2020 Deluxe edition of the Rolling Stones' Goats Head Soup.

Since 1983 Godman’s art practice has been centred around environmental issues, and he adapts his creative approach and use of mediums according to the needs of each project. The first major project he engaged in was The Last Rivers Song. This project focused on the imminent destruction of the wild rapids of the Clutha River that would become Lake Dunstan once the controversial Clyde Dam was complete. The work included large photo-murals over 22 feet long, with some prints gold-toned from gold extracted from the Clutha River, which were first exhibited at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 1984. Photographs from this period are also part of the collection of the Te Papa museum. ^[2]

Another project in 1985-86: Secrets of the Forgotten Tapu, focused on the columnar basalt formations at Blackhead, Dunedin, which were under threat from quarrying. This project gained sufficient attention that “a group called friends of Blackhead was formed to lead a protest against the wholesale quarrying of the area,”^[3] and was successful in obtaining a covenant in protecting part of the headland.^[4] In 1989 Godman was part of Southland Art Foundation's artist in residency program, which saw 11 artists spend time on New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands, with an extensive touring exhibition that followed, and the work was included in the collections of Christchurch Gallery and Auckland Art Gallery. The experience at the remote Auckland Islands saw Godman move to camera-less photography and the use of photograms. A series of photogram projects followed, and in 1994 Godman was the winner of the Open Section of Agfa New Zealand Photokina Photography Award, and travelled to Germany to exhibit his photography. In 1996 he experimented with photosynthesis as a process to grow rudimentary images into the living tissue of Bromeliad leaves. From this time onwards, plants were also used for interactive gallery installations at the Temple Gallery in Dunedin, Burrinja Gallery in Melbourne ^[5], The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia in Altlanta USA, and at Deakin University Art Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. ^[6] In 2008 Godman's photography was recognised in B&W Magazine, stating that "there couldn’t be in this part of the world a more protean, visionary and ecologically committed artist than Godman." ^[7]

Since 2010 Godman was been working with Tillandsia plants as a living, self-sustaining, art medium by creating living sculptures and screens covered in these plants. Utilising a Media Free green wall system, he has created plant experiments, sculptures, and permanent screens without any soil, water, or nutrient systems in more than fifty locations, including level 92 of Eureka Tower^[8], the National Gallery of Victoria, Council House 2 and Montsalvat. "In his own determined way for over thirty years, Godman has pondered and acted upon questions of how aesthetics might be involved in creating sustainable solutions to environmental problems." ^[9]

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