From our bubble to yours

Gallery De Novo’s Liz Fraser displays a postcard by Gabby McKenzie, which reflects on the artist...
Gallery De Novo’s Liz Fraser displays a postcard by Gabby McKenzie, which reflects on the artist’s experiences during the Covid-19 lockdown. PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH
People experienced a variety of feelings during the Covid-19 lockdown. A new exhibition puts those emotions and events into works of art, Rebecca Fox finds.

Sitting on the sofa watching the daily lockdown announcement, taking the dog for a walk around the block or returning from the supermarket with a packet of macaroons rather than the essentials you went there for — these are all scenarios we can identify with.

The Covid-19 lockdown separated people into bubbles but their experiences were often similar. Talking about them now we can all smile, even laugh, but at the time it was happening there was a feeling of anxiety around those experiences.

It brought the country to a halt and, for many, incomes took a hit. Artists did not escape this — losing income through part-time jobs, not being able to sell their work or, in some cases, not having the materials to create.

Ewan McDougall's postcards.
Ewan McDougall's postcards.
In response to the Covid-19 lockdown, Gallery De Novo

asked its artists to create postcard images of their lockdown experiences. The result is ‘‘Postcards from the Other Side’’, which opens today.

Gallery co-founder Liz Fraser said artists were asked to create whatever they could with what they had on hand, but had to limit the size to that of a large postcard. If they did not have paper, they created on thin board.

‘‘We wanted it to be a nice uncomplicated, fun exhibition. This is Covid work inspired by the artist’s environment.’’

More than 30 artists took up the challenge, many doing two or three works and writing a message on the back, as you would on a postcard, describing their work.

‘‘We’ll have about 100 when they all arrive.’’

Kerry Mackay's postcard works.
Kerry Mackay's postcard works.
Some have continued their usual style and topics while others have used the exhibition has an opportunity to try something different.

For Pacific artist Anna Teofilo, who is used to creating detailed images in bright colours on a large scale, creating the postcard-sized works was a challenge. She decided to go with a black-and-white scheme to signify New Zealand.

Ewan McDougall has used three postcards to show the country’s progression through the Covid lockdown stages with his signature figures breathing moist air in one to having a party in another.

Christchurch realist painter Beverly Frost has painted the macaroons her husband came home with during a lockdown shopping trip, while Dunedin artist Janet De Wagt drew pictures of the South Dunedin houses she saw while walking her dog.

‘‘It’s part of history for people. These mark a point in time. It could be a memento of the time or a reward for getting through it.’’

Macandrew Bay artist Kerry Mackay spent lockdown with her cats — Murray and Russell — and making art, reading, walking, sleeping, watching TV, gardening and, like the rest of New Zealand, experimented making sourdough bread.

Her three postcards featured the words ‘‘Wish’’, ‘‘You’’ and ‘‘Here'’ stitched over a vintage paint-by-numbers image that has been chopped up.

For Mackay, a paint-by-numbers picture stirs memories of her sister leaving for school and feelings of loneliness.

‘‘To this day, when I see a paint-by-numbers, it conjures up a feeling of missing, a sort of homesickness for a person, and I felt this during lockdown, too.’’

While they were smaller than her usual works, she liked the concept of a postcard being ‘‘from our homes to yours’’.

‘‘I do love how words look, just as a visual thing. Embroidery thread makes them glow on the muddy coloured and flat-painted background.’’

Anne Baldock's postcard works.
Anne Baldock's postcard works.
The postcard exhibition has allowed Otago Peninsula artist Anne Baldock to focus on the impact the lockdown and its associated challenges have had on her and the people around her.

‘‘The small size of the works meant I could work on them on a tray on my lap while catching up with the news or a new Netflix series.

‘‘It made me reflect on the pleasure people used to get when they received a hand-written postcard in the mail.’’

She also enjoyed the smaller size of the postcards and was able to easily adapt her signature figurative style of painting to the project, creating three acrylic works.

‘‘The inspiration for the works is based on my own experience of lockdown, even if the characters are not always my own family. People think the bald guy in the works is my husband — there is a bit of a resemblance, but he could be anyone. After eight weeks of no haircut, he certainly didn’t resemble him anymore.’’

Beverly Frost's postcard works.
Beverly Frost's postcard works.
Sitting down for the 1pm Covid-19 update on television became a regular fixture in her home and a natural topic for her work.

‘‘In our house we started having bets on what the numbers would be each day.’’

Overall, her life as an artist continued as usual, but the lockdown gave her ‘‘breathing space’’ to enjoy the ‘‘simple pleasures’’ of taking a walk, gardening, trying new things in the kitchen and cleaning.

‘‘I managed to take a little time off from painting and enjoyed looking at exhibitions that were online around the world. I did quite a lot of thinking about new ideas to try in the future.’’

Add a Comment