The Gallery is open Monday-Friday 9.30am-4.30pm and Saturday 9.30am-2.30pm, except holidays and change-over days between exhibitions. Artists proposals are welcome-- click here for more details.
CURRENTLY ON:
Pretty Much Perfect
4 March - 28 March 2010
Joshua Russell plays a piece of interpretative music at the opening of Pretty Much Perfect.
The works of Katy McIntyre with Adela Christiansen's Ceramic on the back plynths.
"Plastic Fantastic" an instalation of Found Objects and Mixed Media by Su Walker.
Artists:
Janette Cervin - Painting
Susan K. Louie - Cast Glass
Katy McIntyre - Ceramic (information on her work here - click 'back' to return to the page, do not close the page as it will exit the website)
Su Walker - Installation
Adela Christianson - Ceramics
Artist Statements:
Janette Cervin:
Janette uses the symbolism of domestic decoration as a façade for ‘the home battlefield of the psyche’ (Jacqueline Fahey), where behind the floral and lace curtains, the cauldron bubbles. Her large scale floral works are contemporary versions of the Vanitas paintings of an earlier era. She paints roses and hydrangeas, mating and predatory insects, thorns, diseased foliage, new buds and falling petals. This visual abundance speaks of transience and tragedy, beauty and joy: it is a celebration of life in its many aspects.
Her earlier work was a collaged vision of domestic life’s darker side crammed together with the sunnier aspects of the everyday. It was of a highly personal nature, the works’ sentiment was generalised, kitschy. The notion of universal domestic bliss has long been regarded a lie, but its Siamese twin of suburban cynicism is a common cliché. Both were taken with a grain of salt , though without actually undermining the difficult realities that are embedded in the everyday, the result being a complex layering of sincerity and irony.
Susan K. Louie
Susan loves glass - glass objects - either functional or non-functional: it is a beguiling medium. What attracts her most is its luminosity, optical qualities, and the heaviness, the fragility combined with its hardness, the endless possibilities....
Her work continues to reference childhood memories of life experiences living on a market garden as a Chinese New Zealander and it is a study of her identity, heritage and Chinese culture.
Susan has held office for the NZ Society of Artists in glass as Secretary and Editor of Glass News from 2004-2006 and elected President from 2006-2008.
In October 2009, she moved from Auckland City to Pukekohe and set up studio on a property on the outskirts of Pukekohe.
Pukekohe being of market garden country inspires her new works in which the simple landscape forms lend itself to the market gardens of Pukekohe and the farmland with its undulating scenery and the various colour changes she sees every day from her studio.
She is finding her new surroundings and the new landscape views furthers her inspiration and informs her Chinese New Zealand/market gardening roots.
Why glass? The colours of glass afforded to her resonates all that is Chinese to the artist.
Recently on at THE NEW ZEALAND STEEL GALLERY:
Below is the list of recent exhibitions with material you can download and print.
(Click 'BACK: to return to this page - don't close the page, it will exit from the website.)
- " Infusion" and Chinese New Year Celebrations 5 Feb - 27 Feb 2010 Group exhibition. Click here
- "Hello City" 8 Jan - 30 Jan 2010 - Group exhibition. Click here
- "Stories of an immigrant translated into art" Onlie Ong. Click here
- "Chew Chew" 14 Nov - 27 Nov 2009. New Zealand Mouth and Foot Painters. Click here
- " It's a small world" 7 Oct - 28 Oct 2009. Installation by the Knitting Grannies. Click here