Christine Hellyar is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most accomplished contemporary sculptors. Born in Ngämotu New Plymouth in 1947, she graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1969 and has exhibited continuously in Aotearoa and internationally since then. For more than five decades, Hellyar has innovated with sculptural processes, and worked across a wide range of materials including cast latex, bronze, textiles, large-scale installation, as well as drawing and photography.
Her work is held in major public collections across Aotearoa, including Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Auckland Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetü, and the Sarjeant Art Gallery, Whanganui.
In 1985, Hellyar produced her first series of apron sculptures. Many were constructed from canvas forms upon which were sewn latex casts of food – tripe, kumara, flounder, a raw plucked chicken. Others consisted only of repurposed bags of salt and flour strapped around the waist. These works were conceived as objects to be worn, distinguishing them from other garment-forms Hellyar had produced, which were designed as wall works.