Art seen: 24 November

Kakariki Pair (Maukahuka), by Mike Crawford.

(Milford Gallery)

Mike Crawford is presenting an exhibition of his exquisite glasswork at Milford Gallery in Dunedin.

The work, largely inspired by a journey last year through New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, focuses on the forms of New Zealand’s endangered birds, bringing to life several of the island chain’s living taonga. We are presented with these creatures in the punanga (refuge) of the gallery space, in its way reflecting the vestigial island refuges that the remaining birds now inhabit.

Crawford works in cast glass, having received much of his training with Ann Robinson, arguably New Zealand’s finest glass artist. The skills learnt with Robinson have been augmented by the artist’s own innovation and inspiration, creating fascinating and captivating pieces.

The birds are presented in a series of undulating lines, capturing their spirit and life while often hinting rather than spelling out their finer features. In some works, notably Kumete Manu (Copper Blue), the form is abstracted to the point where the avian form is implied rather than stated directly.

Crawford’s use of opaque black glass is particularly intriguing; these works (in this exhibition Kawau and Tawaki Pair) have a grandeur and solidity which is unexpected from the medium. The remaining works retain a calming translucency that complements their graceful curves.

Have You Seen The Bright Lily Grow? 10, by Henry Turner.

(Brett McDowell Gallery)

Brett McDowell Gallery is currently displaying work by young Canterbury artist Henry Turner.

Turner’s works in this exhibition are predominantly mixed-media pieces heavy in the use of gouache and metallics. Using an often cartographic approach, he creates scenes which are heavily influenced by his own personal language of signs and symbols. There is an enigmatic feel to the pieces as a result, though there is clearly a strong narrative element to many of the works. Turner is not afraid to create work which deviates from the expectations of a rectangular work within a plain rectangular frame. In several of the works, the framing becomes and integral part of the creations, produced from unorthodox materials such as velvet. In other works, the shape is asymmetrical, with irregular shaped panels. The result is to enhance the composition of the work and to focus attention on action in one specific part of the image.

One of the highlight pieces of the show is a group of 22 small works, some of them minute, presented together within a single golden frame. The effect is to create a single story from the different juxtaposed images, with the collection of small pieces becoming almost an altar-piece of miniature icons.

Handhold’, by Sian Torrington

(Fe29 Gallery)

Sian Torrington’s abstract pastels and assemblages form the basis for the current exhibition at Fe29 Gallery.

The artist uses her creative process to explore interconnectivity and also the relationships between her loves of fine art, textile art, and colour. Through a variety of techniques ranging from painting to needlecraft by way of woodwork, the artist has produced a series of pieces which have become new creations from a series of fragmentary designs. Her sculptural pieces don’t so much sit on the gallery walls as inhabit the spaces in which they are placed, bulging free of their surroundings in order to interact with the viewer.

Alongside these large pieces, Torrington has presented several much smaller works, miniature sculptures of fabric on paper. These tiny works have a friendly immediacy to them which works well with their scale.

A series of wilfully colourful two-dimensional abstract works in pastel, charcoal, and graphite is also a major part of the display. These pieces are perhaps easier to mentally grasp than the sculptural pieces, with their joyful bursts of hues attractively invading the eye of the viewer.

Torrington’s exhibition is completed by a series of assemblages which combine elements of the pastel abstracts and needlework to produce bold pieces which epitomise the interconnectivity that is the artist’s aim.

By James Dignan