Christchurch-based Sam Harrison is a leading proponent of contemporary figuration, well known for his observant, emotionally resonant sculptures and woodcuts. Harrison made a new work for SCAPE Season 2016 Presence, featuring a female figure whose spine arched across the form of a large river boulder, her arm shielding her eyes. The pose might refer to the feeling of warming your body after a swim in the river, or may be read as representing a more charged state of anguish or lament. Scenes of bathers populate much of art history most notably in works by Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso. Bathing scenes allow for the scrutiny and depiction of the figure in a variety of poses. Whilst these historic painters’ enquiries had more to do with the architecture of the picture plane, Harrison shares a fascination with the form of the figure under tension. The artwork was located within Market Square at the Arts Centre, off Worcester Boulevard.