Central Otago Outside the Square (Coots) member Wendy Ward,
of Queenstown, presents one of three textile artworks in
her series I Am From, part of Coots' mixed-media and
fibre-art exhibition ''Upstream of the Herd'' in the
gallery of the Lakes District Museum from March 15 to April
7. Photo by James Beech.
Inspiration came from all corners when the 11 members of
Central Otago Outside the Square (Coots) set to work on
mixed-media and fibre artworks for their first Wakatipu
exhibition in 10 years.
The members from Queenstown, Glenorchy, Garston, Wanaka,
Alexandra and Lawrence meet regularly to share ideas and
resources and critique each other's work. They usually
exhibit every two years, often as part of the Festival of
Colour over the Crown Range.
As the exhibition Upstream of the Herd was being installed in
the gallery of the Lakes District Museum this week,
Queenstown member Wendy Ward said members responded to a set
challenge with their own limitless interpretation.
A photograph of an artistically arranged woodpile in
Liechtenstein prompted artists to cut, stitch, dye, sew and
assemble fabric to create more than a dozen pieces focusing
on warmth for the winter, memories and the tree of life.
However, the majority of the 73 pieces on display featured a
broad variety of topics, styles and approaches, realist and
abstract. The price range was $150 to $1300.
Amanda Hasselman, of Glenorchy, re-created the style of early
tourism posters, which promoted a slower pace of travel, with
the use of recycled blankets appliqued with brightly coloured
hand-dyed silk and silk velvet and densely stitched, to
oppose the controversial Milford Dart tunnel proposal.
The Coots exhibition ''Upstream of the Herd'' was previewed
by invited guests last night and opens to the public today.
It runs until April 7.
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