(Black Rabbit Cafe, Bannockburn)
Painter Troy Warring has an innate skill for channelling and amplifying emotion through the use of colour, and the works of his first solo show create an intense, enveloping atmosphere. His abstracted landscapes, which he describes as "intuitive impressionism", are inspired by various regions throughout New Zealand, but there’s no specific sense of time or place—the imagery unfurls from the artist’s brush and imagination, and the story will be picked up and carried forward by each individual viewer.
In Rainmaker, a deep, moody palette of shadowed blues positions the viewer under a heavy sky, while textural strokes on the canvas conjure the sights and scents of falling rain. Nearby, the blues continue in Unwoven Sky, where the clouds are slowly separating above a calm sea, starting to unravel with the returning light. Whispered Light is almost aglow with seeping tinges of green and gold, reflected in the water below; the whole surface seems to come alive, as the surrounding hills fall into mysterious darkness.
Golden Silence lights up the sky with the glow of the moving sun, shimmering into shades of red and orange, as if fire is licking along the horizon, and the blending of tones is so effective that the canvas almost radiates heat. Nearby, Earth Dreams is more weathered and textural, and very slightly ominous, while Fields of Gold brings a beautiful sense of peace and stillness.
(Milford Galleries, Queenstown)
Opening on Saturday at Queenstown’s Milford Galleries, "Tributes and Pathways" is the first exhibition for Dibble Studio, continuing the sculptural legacy of the late Paul Dibble. The large-scale collection of cast-bronze pieces, many with 24-carat gold gilding, is spectacular, picking up the techniques, motifs and environmental inspiration of Dibble and continuing forward into an ever-changing, yet always cyclical world.
In works like Healing A Busy World, the verdigris effect on the bronze is a powerful visual statement beside the industrial gleam of companion pieces, mimicking the impact of environmental forces on metal, and adding to the sense that time has wrought great change. Native birds are scaled up to become the dominant form and plant life surges upwards to almost overtake building walls, as we see the hope and tenacity of nature even in heavily developed spaces.
One of the central pieces is Referencing Dialogue of Two Huia, in which a huia stands perched on a kōwhai flower, curving over the upturned head of the second huia below. In the wider context of the exhibition, juxtaposed against iconography of both human endeavour and the natural world finding its path forward, the silent conversation between the birds carries a weight and resonance that echoes through the collection.
It’s also a meaningful tribute to the enduring impact of artists, where each generation of creative minds will look up and take inspiration and heart from those that came before: an infinite dialogue and artistic connection.
(Milford Galleries, Queenstown)
Clouds swirl around jagged, snow-dusted mountain peaks, the land touched with a rainbow glow of prismatic light. Painted on aluminium, Simon Edwards’ landscapes always appear to be lit from within, both absorbing and radiating light. In his new exhibition "In Situ", Edwards combines plein air and studio painting, moving between the immediacy and natural light of the outdoors, and the contemplation and imagination of the studio. That blend of observation and inventiveness is reflected in his works, which feel both familiar and dreamlike in their settings, with photorealistic details shifting into unexpected texture and dramatic angles. Like a photographic collage, each part of the rocky terrain brings new textural impressions, as if the mind is recalling sights and sounds from the surrounding environment and creating a composite image.
Edwards’ colour palette is deeply saturated and atmospheric, with an ingenious use of shadow, as foregrounds move into crisp focus and the horizon recedes into mist and possibility. The cool tones and jewel tones of works like Lie of the Land and Lake Light create a sense of almost cinematic grandeur, as if we’re seeing just one frame of an unfolding narrative. Collectively, the works are stunning, windows on to a beautiful, glowing world. "In Situ" also opens at Queenstown’s Milford Galleries this Saturday.
By Laura Elliott
