Auckland artist Richard Maloy employs a fascination with the fine details of the materials and processes involved in art making. As an exploration and exposure of the creation of artwork the artist often uses such base materials as cardboard, plastic bags, tape, butter and discarded timber. Because Maloy works in various media, his installations often integrate elements of performance and sculptural production. Examining the action involved behind the production of an artwork, Maloy often blurs the many boundaries imposed upon an artist. Playing with the traditional notions of art making, Maloy engages with the spaces commonly used for viewing art and draws the viewer into his process. Maloy’s physical presence and his engagement with the viewing audience form a frequently integral part of the experience of his artworks.

In Maloy’s exhibition, Raw Attempts, the artist used ARTSPACE, Auckland simultaneously as a gallery and a studio, developing large-scale sculptural forms over a period of 85 days.  During a residence in 2008 at Artspace, Sydney, Maloy created Yellow Grotto, which was shown as part of Maloy’s solo show at Sue Crockford Gallery, 2008, then at the Physics Room, 2008. Other projects include: Accommodate, St Paul St, Auckland, 2006; World Famous in New Zealand, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australia, 2005; Remember New Zealand, São Paulo Biennial, Brazil, 2004 and The Future of Auckland, ARTSPACE, Auckland, 2002. His work is held in the permanent collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland; Chartwell Collection, Auckland; Peter Fay Collection, Sydney, Australia; Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland; PricewaterhouseCoopers, Auckland; and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia. Winner of the 2009 Fulbright Wallace Arts Trust Award, the artist completed a three-month residency at Headlands Center for the Arts in the Marin Headlands, San Francisco.