Bec Robertson - March 2023 Guest Curator
Each month we ask one of our artists or collaborators to offer their opinion on what two pieces from the Quirky Fox collection they woul like to see on their wall.
This March, Orakei artist Bec Robertson acts as our guest curator. Bec enjoys using different media to create distinctive and contemporary works. Her most recents series have been exploring ink on wooden rounds and sealing with a thick coat of glass like resin.
Bec grew up in the Hawkes Bay and the Wairarapa before leaving for overseas, she lived in London, Singapore and even in the rainforest of Cairns. Here Bec lived for several years with no electricity, surrounded by Australian wildlife – the perfect creative space to observe and draw / paint.
“I explore creative ideas and try to find a point of difference. My most recent works heavily feature New Zealand flora and fauna. I am passionate about the ecology of our endemic species. I find myself talking to Tui as I walk my children to school in the morning, and it’s these observations which I try to capture in my studio. Each new work can take many weeks to create, it is a process with many technical steps. I love the diversification; I can find myself using a delicate ink pen one day and an orbital sander the next."
In this article Bec shares which two works she would welcome into her home and why.
Emperor’s Child by Barbara Podmore
I was immediately drawn this gorgeous piece by Barabara Podmore.
I love penguins, I watched that beautiful documentary "March of the Penguins" by Luc Jacquet several years ago with my family. I remember being amazed and horrified by what these Emperor penguins overcome each year in order to bring a chick into the world.
Barbara has beautifully captured this Emperor father penguin looking lovingly down as his fluffy little chick. The heartwarming penguin scene and cornflower blue tones is a perfect juxtaposition to the important message which Barbara is conveying here. Ice is melting, climate change is happening and wildlife are deeply impacted.
I love a surreal painting and this one has touched me on so many levels.
Fracture / Memory by Meredith Marsone
I read a beautiful book recently where a young girl just appeared one day to a childless couple who lived on a snowy mountain range, it was as though the girl was formed from the snow itself and throughout the years she visited with this couple, Her very being was an ethereal mystery, a sense of vulnerability to her as if a warm breeze or shaft of sunlight might reduce her to a puddle.
Meredith's subject in this painting elicits a similar feeling in me, with her alabaster skin and white brows and lashes she is visually striking yet has a real vulnerability about her. I'm not sure who she is hugging here, but I am choosing to imagine that this girl is my book's snow girl character, she is grappling with the desire to stay with the humans she has formed a relationship with but also has the knowledge that she is not of this world and can not stay any longer.
It is a beautiful painting.
Bec Robertson will be exhibiting alongside Justine Hawksworth in their paired exhibition “Birds and Blooms” at the end of March.
