At a Distance – as seen from Waiheke. 3 May – 9th of May
03/05/2012 10:00 am
09/05/2012 5:00 pm
Public opening 4th May, 6pm. Artists in attendance. All welcome.
Waiheke Island has long attracted some of New Zealand’s established artists as a place to live and practise their art. A group of four of those artists from different disciplines are taking a collection of their works to the capital in May as part of an exhibition titled “At a Distance – as seen from Waiheke” to introduce their art to an audience who may not be so familiar with their work. The exhibition will feature works by Chris Bailey, Christine Hafermalz-Wheeler, Sally Smith, and Ilya Volykhine.
Having recently finished a large public sculpture commission in Britomart, Auckland, Chris Bailey is looking forward to completing some smaller scale pieces for the exhibition with a collection of carved “Pou” posts alongside some hard stone sculptural works, whilst his partner Sally Smith will be exhibiting a number of her bird flock works in bronze. Having practised architecture for twenty years Smith has recently shifted to working full time on her art and her work reflects her architectural background.
The discipline of jewellery is represented by Christine Hafermalz-Wheeler, who, when talking of her inspiration for her one off creations, says “Relaying my reactions to the imposing paintings of Gustav Klimt and reliving the colours of Franz Marc's works through stones allowed me to express emotions rarely seen in jewellery, creating stories to be worn."
The painter in the group is award-winning Ilya Volykhine who, with his Russian roots, has made Waiheke his home in recent years and whose figurative drawings and paintings draw on highly personal experiences. Some of his paintings even use letters from his Russian mother as a background.
