MIKE: The first Artist of the Month to begin the year at Gallery 85 is Taranaki-based Amanda Hewlett, whose show is titled Conversational Conundrums. On one wall are several small works, precisely delineated, each mounted on a spacious white background within a frame. The background seemed, to my mind, to greatly enhance the overall effect of the paintings. They are acrylic on copper, with the addition of imitation gold leaf. Thin lines of gold snake over the blue-green background of the pictures, often criss-crossing and causing a barbed-wire effect. This "brittleness" is explained in the artist's statement. She has often listened to conversations where people had completely different memories of the event in question, so different, in fact, that it could even be questioned as to whether they were discussing the same occurrence.
In stark contrast, on the opposite wall, hang three large paintings, acrylic on plywood, each with feathers floating in or on a strong background — turquoise, blue, green and black. The feathers are linked with the process of memory. Amanda's statement tells us that she is working on "the idea of memories drifting through your mind, some prominent, some hidden till prompted, some almost lost". The paint used was imported from Italy and contains a high concentration of pigment, allowing her to build up many layers, thus producing an "atmospheric and moody" result. For this specific series, Amanda applied the first three layers with a brush, then switched to using feathers for the 15 or so succeeding layers. Being of varying sizes, the feathers created random patterns. Drifting, light, airy, they represent the fragile, fleeting glimpses of memory.
As I finished writing those lines on Friday afternoon, I glanced up, into a clear blue sky — clear, except for one strangely shaped, wispy cloud. Thin and straggly, rising straight up, it resembled nothing more than — a feather! Such a coincidence, I had to take a photo.
Claytopia is the display in the Rayner Gallery. On show are several local artists — the Rayner brothers, Rick Rudd, Ivan Vostinar, Andrea du Chatenier, Ross Mitchell-Anyon, et al. Clever, quirky, imaginative, entertaining — well worth a visit. Two which appealed particularly were Leigh Anderton-Hall's Pohutukawa Sprite and Sam Mitchell's Accused. Scarlet devils and demons surround the central figure, a naked female, cowering and modestly attempting to conceal her body. Accused of what? Loose or lewd behaviour? Was she guilty? Or was it small-minded gossip? Petty jealousy, perhaps? There is no doubt that a sense of menace and threatening evil hangs over the woman. A piece to make you think.
JOAN: I thought we had visited all parts of our adopted country until our son suggested a family holiday in Hahei. Where? A two-day journey broken by a night's stay in magical Taupo brought us to the Coromandel and this pretty settlement. We rented a large house and a smaller one set up high above the village and with a glorious view across the bay. The beach is one of the best I have ever visited and the holiday was just what we all needed. It was sunny every day, the coffee shop was welcoming and yummy, the children had grass, a playground and a safe beach and we adults treasured our time together. I recommend it.
