Art seen: Beauty of life explored in landscapes

Julie Jopp takes a look at the latest exhibitions around Otago.

"The Picture Lounge - New Zealand Photographers Gallery", work by various photographers (Helwick St, Wanaka)
While it is the aim of The Picture Lounge to promote the work of talented New Zealand-based photographers with a selection of landscape, travel, adventure and fine art photography, it also promotes the art of photography - conveying in a way in which no words can, that sense of the mystery and beauty of life and the achievements of mankind.

Through the lens, fleeting moments are captured - an expressive face, a moment in nature, an abstract shape.

Many of the gallery's pieces demonstrate the delights and drama of the local Central Otago landscape, such as Christopher David Thompson's beautifully lit Last Light on the Tussock Hill - Crown Terrace.

The hills are bathed in a warm orange glow, lit by the late afternoon sun, the large clear Central Otago sky dominating the picture plane.

Another Central Otago work, by Mike Langford, takes on the mood of a still-life with an old red couch sitting comfortably against the wall of a musterers' hut - both set in the peace of the tussock-covered hills and sky.

The collection also encompasses the broader essence of New Zealand, such as Jackie Ranken's black and white Milford Umbrella. Although of Milford Sound, the photograph takes on an Asian influence, creating an interesting visual mix.

Other images are taken from well beyond New Zealand's borders, such as Richard Sidey's work in the polar regions.

"Land Fabric", an exhibition of new works by Maria Kemp (Gallery de Novo)
The serenity of Maria Kemp's work continues to charm, with images capturing the fluidity of the regional landscape.

Much of her work is inspired by childhood memories, so Dunedin and Otago Peninsula, inland regions of Otago, Strath Taieri, Middlemarch and the Maniototo are Kemp's recurring areas of focus.

Kemp has produced a series of 13 excellent oils, ranging in size and shape and again inspired by her spiritual beliefs and the metaphorical notion of the earth stretched out like fabric - identifying the earth as a garment with its patterns, folds and complex, ordered design.

When Heaven Invades Earth (Dunstan Great Moss Swamp) is a particularly beautiful example of this concept.

Continuous line and patches of colour, which could almost be described as abstract, capture light and shade and form the smooth folds of the landscape, as if a designer has had a hand in crafting them.

Not only is Kemp's faith apparent in the titles of her work, but also in the shape of her painting, The Earth Pours Forth Speech.

This artwork is presented in a crucifix form, reminiscent of a church's stained-glass window, and is made up of three individual paintings depicting scenes from mountains to the coast, including a beautiful waterfall image.

Kemp's use of line and colour to depict falling water is delicately rendered, resembling floating folds of soft fabric pouring from the earth, giving an ethereal mood to this special work.

"Monochrome", by Anna Reid (The Artist's Room)
Like Maria Kemp, Anna Reid's work also encapsulates the mood of the regional environment.

Her exhibition, now showing at the Artist's Room, consists of 13 works - a series of both prints and paintings inspired by the artist's love of the Otago coastline and the mountain areas of Central Otago.

Unlike Kemp, however, continuous rolling line is not Reid's style.

Using the printing techniques of dry-point etching with paint and the art of collograph, short straight lines form jagged landscape images of land and water. Some convey an atmosphere of nature at its most dramatic, which is especially so in her work Tititea - Glistening Peak.

Others are more restful, as in Slack Tide. All appear to expose the earth's foundations, leaving the viewer to determine their own conclusions.

Half of the exhibition is devoted to painting and while Reid's acrylic work creates a softer image, line is still an important aspect.

In work The Neck, Lake Hawea, line is used vertically to frame the painting as well as add depth to the image.

Paint drips too are used to form vertical and horizontal forms, evoking a fluid and spontaneous mood.

Worked in Reid's characteristic earthy palette, limited combinations of muted blacks and blues, browns and sepia tones produce forceful monochromatic images that aid the expression of a landscape that is both sharp and solid in its focus.