Art
Archaeology has inspired some New Zealand art.
Carol Fletcher is a Raglan based artist. In some of her output she works with found objects - the sort of items that archaeologists conserve from sites or pick up on field surveys. She displays these in the form of arrays or organised series as if the objects were being formally classified. Brown (2009:128)[1] notes her training is in mathematics and anthropology but not archaeology. Her art perhaps reflects that of Susan Hiller who too came to art from anthropology and produced early works drawing from archaeology[1].
Gordon Walters 1919 - 1995. Walters is a major figure in 20th century New Zealand art. His art combines Maori symbols into geometric abstract art. His introduction to Maori figures came in 1946 on a visit to Theo Schoon who was photographing Maori rock art at Opihi River. [2]
Robert Ellis has produced many paintings in a theme of Rakaumangamanga - a pa site in Northland near Cape Brett. An example more clearly illustrative than some, is in Te Papa[3].
Russell Jackson often includes pa sites in his landscapes. An example - a picture of Mt Eden/Maungawhau is here[4].
"Russell Jackson draws his subject matter from his interest in ornithology and archaeology. He is especially known for his coastal landscapes and birdlife rendered with a particularly New Zealand feel, in enamel paint[5]".
Shane Cotton is a painter with Maori ancestry. His works have dense use of symbolism much of it drawing on Maori heritage. Some paintings reference the volcanic cones of the inland Bay of Islands, his ancestral territory. These are the sites of pa, some named in his paintings[6].
Commemorative Tumulus" by the wonderful Reg Mombassa - surely inspired by pa sites.
Alvin Pankhurst uses images of historic Maori carvings set in natural landscapes in a way that often suggests they are in an 'found' context - an imagined archaeology. Alvin Pankhurst Studio Gallery
References
- ↑ Brown, Warwick, 2009 Seen this century, 100 contemporary New Zealand artists, a collectors guide. Random House, Auckland.
- ↑ Wikipedia article, Gordon Walters
- ↑ http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=42173&page=18&imagesonly=true Accessed May 2010.
- ↑ http://www.stbenedictsgallery.com/assets/galleries/Gallery/_resampled/ResizeByWidth6000-830-NorthernSlopes.jpg Accessed May 2010.
- ↑ http://www.stbenedictsgallery.com/russell-jackson/ Accesssed May 2010.
- ↑ Anon 2003 Shane Cotton. Victoria University Press, Wellington.
