Art Seen: October 20

This week in Art Seen, James Dignan looks at works by Becky Cameron, an exhibition from The Artist's Room, and Robert Piggott.

Hereweka, by Becky Cameron.
Hereweka, by Becky Cameron.
"The Faraway Nearby", Becky Cameron (Mint Gallery)

Both England and New Zealand have beautiful landscapes, but whereas New Zealand's is wild and rugged, England's has been tamed and softened by thousands of years of human contact.

Despite this, some of England's scenery finds reflection in New Zealand. There is recognition and connection, without which many early European settlers would not have been drawn to life in this new land.

This acknowledgement of similarity and difference is at the heart of Becky Cameron's broad landscapes of her two turangawaewae, Otago Peninsula and the heart of England's north.

In her watercolours, the Lake District and Harbour Cone become anchor stones to ground their respective countries and to bind them together.

In the case of Harbour Cone, the pictures deliberately echo iconic views by Colin McCahon and Robin White, further producing a personal connection of one artist's work with the earlier bedrock of this country's art.

In a smaller series of works, Cameron experiments with different media to produce more symbolic land portraits; painting on glass with acrylic and applying gold leaf to produce impressions of land.

The title of the gold leaf works, ''Regeneration'', hints at a personal rebirth in a new land, as well as more explicitly referring to the reclamation of cleared land by forest and bush.

Growth, by Kyla Cresswell.
Growth, by Kyla Cresswell.
"Balance" (The Artist’s Room)

Balance. The word can imply many things, from equilibrium to spiritual contentment to ecology. At The Artist's Room, four artists have taken their own cues from this word to produced varied yet complementary work.

Claire Beynon's painting has taken a dramatic turn from her normal vast implied landscapes: here, figures are present in a realistic land or floating in the blue of space.

The mother and daughter forms become almost goddess-like symbols, their small size in the picture composition belying the weight of their presence.

Lone marks on the land are also the subject of Kyla Cresswell's delicate prints, with pale auroral glows presented against white tree lines.

In a charming set of smaller works, lone trees stand out under night star trails, the skies created by printing using the annular patterns of branch ends.

Kate Alterio, better known as a jeweller, has produced a series of intriguing works through the presentation of solid icons in set patterns.

Using metal and stone, she has drawn deeply from historical and alchemical sources to create swirling cycles of life and the elements, reaching their peak in the impressive Crucible.

Between these works sit Di Conway's friendly Rubenesque stoneware women, the voluptuous forms of these miniature statues providing a touch of welcome humour and warmth to the show.

Hawthorn Ave, by Robert Piggott.
Hawthorn Ave, by Robert Piggott.
"Dunedin Days", Robert Piggott and Nick Knox (Robert Piggott Gallery)

Robert Piggott presents an exhibition of his bold abstract paintings at his own gallery in Jetty St. The works are partially inspired by - and named for - Dunedin streets, and the exhibition is unofficially dedicated to the three Warehouse and Exchange precinct buildings where Piggott has had his studios during his Dunedin days.

The works are strong, heavily structured pieces, with areas of earthy acrylic colour broken by irregular grids of dense black oilstick lines.

The artist makes no attempt to provide explanations or answers, leaving interpretation entirely up to the viewer.

There are, however, implications in the repeated layering of structure, a scaffolding of rhythm and life, over the simpler, natural landscape. The works may defy instant explanation, but are appealing despite of - or possibly because of - this fact.

The visual works are well complemented by a soundtrack of music by Dunedin composer Nick Knox who, coincidentally, creates his music in one of Piggott's former studio spaces.

The hypnotic, trancelike music defies easy categorisation, mixing influences from Bach to Robert Fripp by way of raga and barbershop quartet.

In this music, as with Piggott's painting, there is a sense of a strong yet irregular mathematical structure overlaying a more serene base.

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