The Sarjeant Gallery's collection of over 8000 works is a source of information and inspiration for students, researchers and artists both locally and further afield.
The first port of call is the prize-winning digital portal into the collection called Explore the Collection, which is where Wesley Fourie first went.
Fourie's textile art features botanical and environmental themes and his last project at the time, entitled Forest Floor, had been a six-metre long embroidery piece detailing more than 100 New Zealand native plant species. He was particularly interested in the works of the slightly mysterious Charlotte Hardcastle, who was at work in the early 20th century, and also the more contemporary and challenging Don Driver.
The Sarjeant holds six of Hardcastle's beautiful botanical watercolour paintings and 23 multimedia works by Driver.
"I had gone to the Sarjeant website to see what I could find in terms of botanical works or embroidery, or anything I could use as a reference. Charlotte Hardcastle was one of the artists I was interested in seeing at the Sarjeant while in Whanganui. Her work is for me one of the highlights of the collection. I am fascinated by delicate works and you can play a lot with that. [Embroidery] doesn't have to be a little, boxy square. When you think about embroidery and knitting you can create works outside of the conventional notions the words conjure up. But I still like to look at work that is soft and delicate and traditional then take an idea and make something" Fourie said.
