The quiet beauty and significance of the small, often overlooked lives that share Aotearoa’s landscapes is explored in a new exhibition.

Local artists Joanne Craig and Zenobia Southcombe are presenting their works in “Little Lives”, a joint exhibition on at Dunedin Community Gallery until August 12.

Craig said the exhibition, themed around native birds and other wildlife, highlighted how many lives were lives quietly and privately, beyond the spotlight.

“They appear before us fleetingly, shyly. A bird in flight, a tiny creature on a leaf,” she said.

“We glimpse them, think about them for a moment.

“But though our thoughts about ‘little lives’ are ephemeral their significance and beauty are not.”

The “Little Lives” exhibition invited visitors to slow down, look more closely, and consider the richness of the natural world surrounding them.

Craig’s works include a new series of six large-scale acrylic paintings of native birds, accompanied by selected earlier works and archival fine art prints.

Palmerston-based Southcombe is exhibiting paintings, photography and cyanotype works exploring native birds and “critters”, alongside large-format photographic reproductions.

Also showcased is a moving-image work featuring her photography accompanied by an original musical composition by her husband, created using recordings of bird sounds at Tavora Reserve.

Southcombe said, while rooted in the natural world, “Little Lives” also reflected on what people valued in their own lives.

“In a society that often celebrates the extraordinary or highly visible, the exhibition offers a gentle reminder that worth is not determined by size, status or recognition, she said.

“It resonates with the te ao Māori understanding that every living being carries its own mauri, and that from recognising this inherent worth grows a deep sense of care, respect and responsibility.”

In keeping with the exhibition’s focus on the worth of every life, a portion of proceeds from sales will be donated to Hagar International’s programmes in support of survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking.

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz