Sculptor turns hand to new tools

Many hands have made light work of a Dunedin artist's latest exhibition.

Sculptor Gavin Wilson will hold his first show, ''Back On Track'', next week since he lost his right hand in a edge trim picker machine accident at a Dunedin bedding manufacturer on June 6 last year.

''Sculpting isn't work to me, it's a passion. So I'm pretty excited about the exhibition. It's a goal I had set myself,'' the 44-year-old said yesterday.

''One of the pieces in the exhibition I did within a week of getting out of hospital. I had to know I could still do it.''

To continue carving after the accident, he had to adapt various tools, including chisels and a mallet made from a car towball, to fit his prosthetic forearm.

''The prosthetic department was great. They measure it to the same size as your previous hand. But you damage quite a few in the early days because you can't feel blades going into them,'' Mr Wilson said.

''Then I went to see some engineers about how I could hold a chisel and hammer again. We worked out that the best way to do it was with springs which lock into my arm, which I can weld my tools on to.

''I've got about 10 tools, all up. The funny thing is, you never miss with them. The prosthetic weighs about 5kg and you lose your balance when you take it off after eight hours working.''

Not all of his hands are working models.

''I've got a good one for special occasions, but the wife keeps that one locked away,'' he said, with a chuckle.

Mr Wilson bears no resentment over the accident.

''The decision [to amputate] was already pretty much made when I woke up in hospital,'' he said.

''There's no point in dwelling on stuff. That doesn't get you anywhere. You've just got to get on with things.''

In June, E F Products Ltd Partnership (Ellis Fibre Ltd) was fined $45,000 and ordered to pay $25,000 reparation, after it admitted failing to take all practicable steps to protect the safety of an employee, under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

''Back On Track'' opens at 5.30pm on Wednesday at Koru Gallery and runs until October 26.

- nigel.benson@odt.co.nz

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