Art auction to aid victims
AMID the horror of the March 15 terror attacks in Christchurch has been an outpouring of goodwill for the Muslim community and the victims’ families, whose lives have been altered irrevocably.
Oamaru artists Donna Demente and Watts Davies are joining that chorus of support, by creating and auctioning two pieces of art on Trade Me.
Demente and Davies said they were inspired by the fundraising efforts of musician Adam McGrath, of The Eastern, with his How Can I Keep From Singing? concert series.
‘‘We thought it might be nice to just put some artwork in as well,’’ Davies said.
Half of the sale price of each work will be donated to the Christchurch Foundation’s ‘‘Our People Our City’’ fund, supporting those impacted by last month’s tragic events.
Davies’ piece House of the Crescent Moon is part of the ‘‘Tower’’ series he has been working on for about 20 years.
In a description of the artwork, Davies wrote: ‘‘The tower is a metaphor for the self. We stand in isolation. The artist works in isolation, but tries to relate and respond to the world. The events in Christchurch diminish us all.’’
His ‘‘Tower’’ series started as street scenes and paintings of real buildings.
‘‘I just did the street scenes and individual buildings so often I got bored, so I started to invent my own buildings,’’ he said.
‘‘Every now and then I get asked by a tourist, ‘Where can I go and see that building?’.’’
Demente’s artwork All Seeing Prayer is one of her ‘‘Gaze’’ series, with a stiffened cloth and gold frame detailing.
‘‘I was thinking about that multidenominational thing, that seems to be a theme that’s come up in so many different ways,’’ she said.
She said she was ‘‘incredibly moved’’ by the forgiveness and reactions of the Muslim community to ‘‘this absolute atrocity for them’’ and by the Government’s move to strengthen gun laws and hate speech legislation.
The artworks are listed individually on Trade Me. Both auctions close on Wednesday.