CV
Paul Dimmer, Sculptor. CV.
Looking back, I realise that sculpting has been part of my life since my tenth year. Around that time Dad allowed me to have
a sheath knife, the kind with a bone handle and cast metal Indian head. At the time we lived in the fork at the junction of a
river and a creek. Basket and weeping willows grew on the banks and provided a ready source of soft, easily carved wood.
Whittled and decorated swords, spears, daggers, and bows and arrows were my first efforts. Oregon pine scraps from
building sites were next, carved into pretty rough sailing ships, cars, 'planes and the like.
During my career as a radio technician with the RAAF and Telstra, woodcarving became an occasional past time in
between work and family. In the mid eighties my paintings and drawings began to sell. I also joined the A.C.T. woodcraft guild
and started to win the sculpture prize in their annual exhibitions. This gave me the confidence to approach galleries with my
wood sculptures.
Sculpture and painting ran in parallel for some years, winning several prizes in both disciplines . In 1998 I gave up my
"real job", and moved to the south coast, initially pursuing both 2D and 3D work. Gradually sculpture came to the fore,
becoming a consuming passion.
Over the last ten years new materials have become part of my sculpture, these include: limestone, hebel, sandstone, mild
steel, stainless steel, cloth, paint, cutlery, reo bar, copper, brass, and pewter. Also, over this time, I have begun making
larger outdoor pieces and am leaning towards abstraction in some pieces. All my works are one offs, some with a quirky
or humourous bent.
Hopefully, in the near future, I will be in a position to do some bronze pieces, clay having always been a favourite medium,
with the added quality of being both additive and subtractive.
At various times my work is exhibited in galleries on the south coast, Bungendore, Canberra, Hunter valley,
Sculptors Society exhibitions, and competetive exhibitions.