I finally got to go see the Toi Tui Toi Ora exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. In one of the last and largest rooms was Maureen Lander (1942) and Mata Aho Collective (est 2012) work Atapō, 2020. The large scale work took up both levels of the gallery just making you stand in amazement. As I walked around the work, the diamond shape in the centre third would move until you saw from the side that the work was made up of layers of mesh fabric which created the diamond shape and opaque colour. Lander’s use of light and negative space to create the diamond shape created a sense of mass and space
The Lander’s use of dark black and the trick of light peaking through the layers of mesh made me feel like I was being absorbed. The contrast of the surrounding colours, whites, peach, beige made the pitch black stand out beautifully. This created a deep sense of mass as well as creating an ominous feeling.
In relation to this brief, A Weight off Your Mind, Lander’s work helped me to understand that the use of layered material and space and compliment each other to create volume and mass.
A work that really caught my eye was Robert Jahnke’s work. In a completely pitch black room, I saw three diamond shapes with crosses in the centre illuminating the room. The works made of out LED lights and mirrors create an optical illusion with the reflection of infinite crosses. Typically a cross is a symbol of the Christian religion so, this reminds me of a modern twist of the cross on top of a church at night being lit up. The use of colour, red, blue and yellow makes me wonder why he chose to use the primary colours.
Walking upon this installation, I was curious and interested behind the meaning of this piece. This piece is based off of the Māori legends of the relationship between Tāne, the god of the forest and Rehua, the star of summer. I can now see how the star and threads flowing from it represent the warmth and happiness of summer almost like the summer rays of light. What I found difficult about this piece is the merging of multiple medias; mirror, wood, carving and thread and how this piece is standing supported.