Perspectives

We live in the landscape all the time. Yet we don’t necessarily consider our relationship with the landscape as we move through. Landscape painting might suggest that landscape is fixed, but it is not static. We might think of parts of the New Zealand landscape to be wild and untouched - but things like flora and fauna extinctions, climate change and introduced species such as deer mean none of it is unmodified. 

Hannah Joynt, a Lecturer in our College of Art Design and Architecture, says that immersing herself in the landscape is an important part of considering her relationship with our environment. Her works begin with her being in these places, walking, sketching, photographing, then when she is making the works in the studio she is remembering how she felt at the time and seeking to represent that lived experience. The texture in the landscape is key for her, and she uses her materials to "touch" the landscape. 

Hannah hopes that that sense of touch gets passed on to the viewers, through this small 60 x 60cm frame, a window into Hannah's textural landscape experience. Her work is inviting, so that viewers can share that experience with her and also have their own experience of the landscape through her work. Hints of human influence are a nod towards the knowing about how the landscape is forever being modified by people.

Hannah's work was on display as part of a group exhibition, New Perspectives on Landscape at the Forrester Gallery in Oamaru from 27 October until 2 December 2018. The other exhibitors were also recent graduates of the Dunedin School of Art's Master of Fine Arts: Miranda Joseph, Robyn Bardas, Fiona Van Oyen, and Sue Pearce. Clive Humphreys was studio supervisor for all of the artists and curated this exhibition of their collective work.