''South Seas Idol'', Jenna Packer (Milford Galleries)
Jwnna Packer's strange parallel painted universe continues to grow and become more deeply detailed.
The whimsy of flying machines and sailing fleets has given way to a gritty land, resembling our own but viewed through a jaundiced glass.
The artist's bewitching paintings depict dystopian allegories of our world, in which excessive capitalism and decaying society are carried to logical conclusions.
The symbolism is strong, and the message clear, but it does not dominate so strongly as to render the works merely polemic.
There is skill and artistry here which make the paintings haunting and beguiling.
Merely as paintings, the pieces have a scope and depth that rewards repeated viewing.
Everywhere there is activity, and everywhere the eye finds new delights.
The political message could almost be seen as a mere bonus.
This bonus, however, is a major one; the strong narrative is not only pointed but is also heartfelt and deeply affecting, depicting a neo-Victorian, class-ridden society dominated by the unseen hand of the Temples of Mammon.
The smaller works in this exhibition - unusually small for Packer - provide tableaux which encapsulate many of the features of the artist's more operatic stage-sets. They are delicately detailed, yet every bit as poignant as the large works they reflect.''
History Repeats'', Jenny Longstaff (Moray Gallery)
Jwnny Longstaff's ''History Repeats'' at the Moray Gallery is an intriguing, hypnotic collection of designs created from symmetrically multiplied photographic images.
By concentrating on individual details the artist sees in the mundane and everyday, Longstaff has created geometries through exploration of colour, light, and form which make us look again at these details of building and nature, and also to experience them as if for the first time by - in the artist's own words - imposing order on the underlying chaos.
The resulting works have a peaceful, mandala-like quality. Longstaff has deliberately chosen to focus on man-made forms which echo nature, such as the curls of wrought ironwork, and by their repeated juxtaposition has restored them to some form of pseudo-botanical beauty.
Stair balustrades become woven flax, railings become magical flower blooms, and ''real'' nature - such as ferns - becomes transcendent patterns in all its shifting, shattered beauty.
Owing to the predominantly circular format of the works, several pieces bring to mind Marilynn Webb's art, though this initial comparison is deceptive.
If anything, Longstaff's works form a direct antithesis to Webb's. Webb successfully evokes an essence of place through formal designs; here it is design which emerges through the kaleidoscopic repetition of a place's essential features.
''Re:'', Jampa Stuart (Koru Gallery)
Mandala is also an appropriate term to use in describing some of Jampa Stuart's art, for two reasons.
Firstly, there is the intensive, pointillistic manner in which Stuart creates many of his images, built up from large spots of colour pushed together into three-dimensional textures.
Secondly, there is the Buddhist-influenced approach the artist takes to art: its transcendence, pervasiveness, and ability to impart understanding of our own humanity.
Stuart's exhibition is entitled ''Re'': - short for reacquaintance, recovery, and return, a reference to the artist's resumption of his art career after serious illness. His recovery produced a conscious desire to make the most of life and a strong impetus to work towards this exhibition.
Stuart has produced works in several media and on a variety of subjects, though the impastoed dot paintings in saturated primary colours dominate.
The texturing of their abstract surfaces makes them stand out among the other works in the exhibition.
Other pieces on display include a couple of more realistic acrylic paintings, a coastal scene and a night skyline, but although these are good works they have difficulty holding their own among the oils.
An acrylic and ink work - also a coastal scene - fares much better. Its strong, monochromatic brushwork boldly asserts its identity.
