The latest exhibition of\u00a0East Otago artists\u2019\u00a0work at the\u00a0\u014ctepoti Dunedin Community Gallery celebrated the wonder and quiet lives of Aotearoa\u2019s natural world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Lives\u201d was a collaborative exhibition\u00a0by Joanne Craig and Zenobia Southcombe observing\u00a0the beauty and significance of the small, often overlooked lives that share Aotearoa\u2019s landscapes.<\/p>\n
Southcombe said they had a good turnout\u00a0and they were pleased with community responses to their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been cool having many of our visitors sharing their own stories with us, it\u2019s felt more like a community hub than an art gallery, and it\u2019s touching that our exhibition could facilitate this,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Waitati-based artist Craig said \u201cLittle Lives\u201d\u00a0\u201cinvites visitors to slow down, look more closely, and consider the richness of the natural world that surrounds us\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0exhibition\u00a0brings together a diverse range of works exploring Aotearoa\u2019s native birds and other wildlife, creating an immersive experience that moves between intimate observation and larger-than-life encounters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her artworks include six large-scale acrylic paintings of native birds, accompanied by selected earlier works and archival fine art prints.<\/p>\n
Craig\u2019s\u00a0work, inspired by\u00a0nature and birdlife, celebrates the \u201cpresence, dignity and individuality of Aotearoa\u2019s taonga species\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my work I celebrate this beauty through portraits of birds and people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the deeper level I explore themes of connection and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palmerston-based artist Southcombe\u2019s work explores native birds and \u201ccritters\u201d in paintings, photography and cyanotype works.<\/p>\n
Also featured was a moving-image work accompanied by an original musical composition by her husband, created using recordings of bird sounds heard at Tavora Reserve, where the couple often walk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Together, these works reveal the beauty, detail and diversity found within lives that are often unnoticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile rooted in the natural world, \u201cLittle Lives\u201d also reflects on what we value in our own lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a society that often celebrates the extraordinary or highly visible, the exhibition offers a gentle reminder that worth is not determined by size, status or recognition,\u201d Craig said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the works resonated with the te ao\u00a0M\u0101ori understanding that every living being carried its own mauri, and from recognising this inherent worth there grows a deep sense of care, respect and responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy encouraging us to notice and value what is often overlooked, \u2018Little Lives\u2019 speaks to our interconnectedness with the natural world and the importance of nurturing our relationships with all living things.\u201d<\/p>\n
In keeping with the exhibition\u2019s celebration of the inherent worth of every life, a portion of proceeds from artwork sales will be donated to Hagar International, in support of survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Lives\u201d\u00a0ran at\u00a0the\u00a0\u014ctepoti Dunedin Community Gallery until last Wednesday,\u00a0\u00a0and is followed by the Otago Potters Group annual exhibition from Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest exhibition of\u00a0East Otago artists\u2019\u00a0work at the\u00a0\u014ctepoti Dunedin Community Gallery celebrated the wonder and quiet lives of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-857042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}