Peter Syndicas

Peter Syndicas was born in Melbourne in 1971, moving to Adelaide with his young family in 2004. These days he divides his time between career demands as a Creative Director of an advertising agency with his sculpting.

Over 10 years ago on a camping trip, Peter hunted down the perfect twig to hold his marshmallows by the campfire. He whittled away until he had a twig that could hold two marshmallows over the fire at once. It wasn’t until he’d finished his treats that he’d noticed a form in the twig he was holding. At that very moment, he says it was as if his eyes had discovered nature for the first time.

Since then Peter has been fascinated by fractals  - infinite patterns replicated throughout all forms of nature. From cracks in the earth and river systems viewed from air, to human arteries and the palms of our hands. He decided to focus his sculptures on the forms found in twigs primarily as it enabled him to view these fractals from the widest perspective.

Peter has chosen to define abstract human likenesses within his twigs to enable the viewer to observe them from a different perspective. He then magnifies these forms, and immortalises them in bronze. Stark contrasts to the fragile nature of these delicate twigs, some no larger that a few centimetres in length.

Syndicas has had no institutional training as a sculptor.  He innovated his techniques mainly through trial and error until he exhibited one of his sculptures publicly for the first time, as a finalist in the 2005 Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize. Since then he was introduced to highly respected sculptor Silvio Apponyi, working alongside him in his studio. It has been under Apponyi that he has perfected new techniques in his handling of bronze as a medium. Peter has since been highly commended in the 2007 Waterhouse, and awarded Second Prize in the 2008 Waterhouse.

Syndicas is currently in the midst of collecting a variety of twigs from various significant locations throughout the world. His ambition is to create these sculptures on a much larger scale.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2009
Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, “Origin of Species”

Awards:
2008
Second Prize, Waterhouse Natural History Prize, South Australian Museum
2007
Highly Commended, Waterhouse natural History Prize, South Australian Museum
2005
Finalist, Waterhouse Natural History Prize, South Australian Museum