Muriwai Arts Trail 2009
The Boiler Room
Gary Willis & Sue Haldane
Gary Willis has a background in textile, carpet and interior design, and was an exhibiting artist in his native South Africa. Sue Haldane is a founder member of Theatre Frontier where she has a hands-on role as both artistic director and actor. The Boiler Room combines Sue and Gary’s love of quality salvaged furniture and demolition materials with their desire to create something fresh and worthwhile from found objects. Whilst scouring the country for vintage timber they attended plant closures and factory and institutional decommissions that enabled them to accumulate a vast collection of pieces from an age where precision, engineering and craftsmanship were paramount. While many objects stand full of character as they are, other pieces of furniture are built from scratch using quality found materials to create something completely new. A lot of work and attention to detail goes in to bringing these objects to a very high level of finish. Before anything is displayed it is subjected to the ultimate test: Gary and Sue must consider it something they would keep themselves.
