Art Seen: April 13

This week Laura Elliot looks at works by Robyn Bardas, Kate Alterio, and Lynee Wilson.

"Locate. Horizon. Line. IV, by Robyn Bardas.

‘‘Locate. Horizon. Line.'' is the result of a very personal journey for Robyn Bardas - both figuratively and quite literally - but the images could resonate with anyone who has regularly travelled around Central Otago, and whose memories and identity are in some way entwined with that landscape.

Bardas' snapshots of a quickly moving, yet somehow perpetual world seem slightly different from every angle, and the installation invites a powerful self-examination of the ways in which we orient and ground ourselves through our surroundings.

Each room-sized panorama began as film footage, captured from a moving car as Bardas regularly drove between Wanaka and Dunedin to complete her postgraduate degree.

She then painted directly on to the digital photographic prints, imposing new layers and shapes, and the illusion of rips or tears, into the static depiction of a continually changing landscape. When the camera is moving, objects closer to the lens and the eye will deteriorate into a blur, while anything in the distance will appear with stationary clarity.

Likewise, people often find it easier to have a clear hindsight view of the past, or to fix on an imagined idea of the future, than to focus on what is happening in the present, as time rushes by.

There is endless meaning and metaphor that could be read into the images, but every person who looks at them will have a unique history and viewpoint. As Bardas states: ‘‘My horizon is not your horizon, because my eye level is not yours.''

Crucible, by Kate Alterio.

Kate Alterio's ‘‘At the Edge of Eternity, An Open Door'' is a journey into the realms of symbolism, codes, mystery and adventure.

Alterio draws on history, mythology, spirituality and philosophy, communicating myriad concepts in a single image, but often the exact meaning of a piece is elusive - there is that ‘‘open door'' to all the things that lie beyond the plane of human experience and understanding.

One of the most intriguing pieces is Crucible. The symbols of alchemy, the ancient spiritual science practised in Egypt, Europe and Asia, are placed in concentric circles around a central gold-plated philosopher's stone, the sign of enlightenment, the so-called source of eternal life.

The symmetry and perfect placement of the work is almost hypnotic, drawing the eye toward the golden centre, as if the alchemical symbols are rotating around it.

The iconography of ancient Egypt is continued in Suspended Earth and Sky, in which Alterio pares down the world to its most abstracted, symbolic form, through two pyramids of bronze, silver, gold and topaz scarab beetles - an emblem of eternity, rebirth, and regeneration.

The Last Day is Also the First depicts an endless circle of the ouroboros, the image of a snake eating its own tail - the concept that there is no beginning or end, only a perpetual cycle.

The most emotive work, perhaps, is The One, The All, which unites symbols from religious and spiritual cultures across the world. Alterio's own addition is a mother-of-pearl circle, to represent all the paths and traditions either not depicted or as yet unknown.

Unravelled, by Lynne Wilson.

There is always a fascinating element to a retrospective exhibition, as collections from very different stages in an artist's life and ethos are brought together and viewed simultaneously for the first time.

In the case of Lynne Wilson's ‘‘Evolution'', there isn't necessarily a progression from early experimentation to practised polish; many of the works from 2006 are as eye-catching and skillfully executed as this year's collection.

Rather, it's as if original ideas and techniques have been built upon, with favourite patterns and shapes recurring throughout the years, and each piece informing and inspiring the next.

‘‘Evolution'' showcases two techniques: raku, which involves firing clay at a lower temperature than usual, and then sealing the pieces in reduction bins lined with combustible materials, creating smoking and metallic flashes within; and kintsugi, the Japanese art of using precious metals and lacquer to ‘‘repair'' damaged ceramics.

Wilson's mother and fellow artist Joan Neil collaborated with her on pieces like Unravelled, applying her expertise with copper and soldering to turn shattered remains into something new, complete, and even more beautiful.

Kintsugi treats breakage and repair as evidence of the item's history, an enhancement rather than a disguise or a loss.

The sculptural Unfolding Land series is particularly successful. Each piece is like an aerial view of the land, and the variation of texture and tone across an uneven surface gives the impression of changing terrain.

The standing Unravelled Sculpture, too, is a stunning culmination of Wilson's decade of ‘‘playing with fire''.

-By Laura Elliot