Art seen: August 1

Evening Light by Sarah Freiburger. Photo: Eade Gallery

(Eade Gallery, Clyde)

Burnished light filters through clustered tree branches, tracing a serene path along mossy rocks, and illuminating the forest with gentle warmth. Painter Sarah Freiburger is a master at exploring the transformative qualities of light, and her diptych Evening Light is glorious. Spilling across the two boards, the woodland scene has the charm and grandeur of a storybook setting, yet the tiniest mundane details ground the work with illusive photorealism. Freiburger is always extremely adept at focusing on the small details to enhance the image in its entirety. The whole tone of a scene can change with the shifting of shadow, objects can appear to change shape, and as the viewer moves closer or farther away, previously overlooked features emerge from the background.

Although atmospherically very different, Evening Light pairs beautifully with Snowshine. With the latter, it is as if you have ventured farther into the forest as the weather changes, the snow sweeping in and obscuring the path ahead. A few stripped, skeletal tree trunks and branches are just visible within the swirling storm, and individual snowflakes and gold-leaf flecks become scattered spheres of glittering light, appearing to fling forwards at the viewer. The sensation is very much of being enveloped in the shimmering cold, surrounded by rushing movement as you draw closer to the source of the golden glow though the trees.

The Mountains Give Thanks to the Clouds by Thomas Geddes. Photo: Laura Elliott

(Eade Gallery, Clyde)

With awe-inspiring views around every corner, it is inevitable that landscape art is common in Central Otago—but it is also a genre of infinite variation. A scene could alter completely with the movement of the light, the introduction of a new element, the passing of time. Artists and viewers all bring their own perspectives, and are driven by distinct experiences, memories and reactions — and uniqueness in technique is definitely reflected in current works at Eade Gallery.

Esther Dexter’s work is always vibrant and joyful, with her distinctive stylised lines and layers. In the mixed-media Home for the Winter, a row of welcoming cottages literally glow under the encroaching grey sky, with electrical lights wired within the composition.

By contrast, Thomas Geddes’ The Mountains Give Thanks to the Clouds is monochromatic and intensely atmospheric, as the clouds roll in and the mountains retreat into a distant wall of shadow. With just a few flickered brushstrokes, Geddes hints at the presence of a small group of people, their features and actions obscured by distance; there is a feeling of mystery and imminent drama, as if we are hovering on the edge of a changing story.

Peter Walker’s abstracted Night Splendour perfectly captures the magic of the lakefront under the night sky. The gloss of the enamel emulates the glow of moonlight and starlight, the richness of colour even within the dark. Under the cover of night, the world can feel silent and still, yet there’s vibrant life everywhere you look.

Forgotten Histories 9 by Megan Huffadine. Photo: Laura Elliott

(Central Stories Museum and Gallery, Alexandra)

At Central Stories, the eight artists of Indigo shine a light through the dark days of winter, bringing together paintings, sculptures, ceramics and a palpable love for the local land and community. The works are aesthetically beautiful, capturing the wonders and complexities of both their subject and the medium from which they are wrought; but their creators also delve deep into storytelling, weaving visual tales of triumph and struggle, history and magic. As you walk amidst the works, there is a wonderful feeling of mystery and ambiguity, the sense of treasures around every corner, like Megan Huffadine’s Forgotten Histories, turning items from the museum collections, remnants of women’s domestic lives, into high-art iconography.

Rachel Hirabayashi’s Watermark is an atmospheric, dreamy canvas, the imagery of the river emerging from a haze of blue and green, with the viewer feeling as if they are surrounded by damp and rain, in a scene that could be intensely serene or slightly ominous. Across the surface, paint gathers and smudges into watermarks, as if the work itself has been scarred and blurred by the elements.

With simple titles and powerful concepts, Nigel Wilson explores the emotive force and psychological impact of colour, the way in which certain shades can change our moods, transport us to particular times and places, and pluck at the finest threads of forgotten memories.

In a juxtaposition of steel and fragility, Judy Cockeram’s fascinating sculpture Earthworn: Butterflies delves into the human impact on the environment, and the determined resilience of that which survives and thrives in the face of destruction.

By Laura Elliott