RUDOLF BOELEE STRATUM 2

STRATUM 2 RUDOLF BOELEE

STRATUM 2 NEW WORKS BY RUDOLF BOELEE 12 DRAWINGS ; CHARCOAL & CHARCOAL AND PASTEL ON PAPERBOARD 9 PHOTO COLLAGES

CHRISTCHURCH 2016

Stratum; a layer of material, naturally or artificially formed

Andesite; a dark, fine-grained, brown or greyish intermediate volcanic rock which is a common constituent of lavas in some areas.

These rocks belong to a unit called the Governors Bay Andesite, and are some of the oldest volcanics exposed on the Banks Peninsula (approximately 10 million years old). The unit is comprised on andesitic lava flows - very similar to what you might see on the flanks of Ruapehu. However, the interesting patterns that you have seen in the rocks are due to weathering since they have been exposed. Water is able to slowly percolate into the rock through small cracks and fractures that naturally occur. As the water runs through the rock, it interacts with the crystals, and causes some of them to chemically change to clay minerals. This process happens at the edge of the cracks first, and then progressively gets further and further into the rock. In this case, there is a network of cracks which together form 'cubes' (think of how a Rubic's cube is formed), and as the water interacts with these cubes in all three dimensions, it forms these circular patterns. In some places, the fractures are more unidirectional, and so the weathering forms more as layers, rather than circles.

Dr. Paul Ashwell

STRATUM 2 PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE ONLY A SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE WORKS

Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Rudolf Boelee immigrated to New Zealand in 1963 and has been painting and has exhibited for the past 45 years. Boelee has been the recipient of several art awards including the CoCA Award in 1998. He is represented in countless private and public collections both nationally and Internationally including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney .