Exhibition celebrates the small things
Artistic exploration of nature unveiled
Afantastical take on the natural world is the focus of Taupō Museum’s newest exhibit. Award-winning artist Lea-Anne Sheather is bringing her Handle With Care exhibition to the museum from Saturday.
Her works include 2D and 3D textile and collage art, which explore her own experiences with nature.
The pieces feature intricate, smallscale fabrications making up an imaginary construct she called the ‘Island of Woo’, inspired by Sheather’s own experiences exploring the beach and bush reserves around her.
She became fascinated with the small, everyday details in the landscapes, where even the smallest spaces “can teem with the exuberant layers of life”, she said.
The ‘Island of Woo’ became a way for her to depict the lively, interacting and connected nature of everything on Earth.
Some of Sheather’s works use recycled woollen blankets as a base, with others constructed on canvases with recycled paper.
Larger works in the exhibit feature freeform embroideries and collages that use lines, patterns and layers to represent the interconnectedness and interdependency between living things.
Sheather completed a Master of Fine Arts at the Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in Auckland in 2014.
Her work has been recognised by many New Zealand arts awards; she was the supreme winner of the Miles Art Award in 2014, highly commended in the Parkin Art Award 2022, and the highly commended winner in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award in 2019.
She has also been a finalist in the Walker and Hall Waiheke Art Award and the Rotorua Museum Art Award.
Also on show at the museum until April 2 is the Iron Taupō 1999 exhibit, documenting the town’s history with the Ironman New Zealand event.
The exhibition features photos from the Taupō Times, which documented the event with a newspaper supplement marking the momentous occasion 25 years ago.
Taupō Museum will also be farewelling its exhibitions officer this week with a celebration on March 22.
Kerence Stephen has overseen the exhibits at the museum for 13 years, for a total of more than 180 installations.
Over that time, Stephen has worked with more than 500 artists to bring a wide range of works to the museum’s exhibition space.
The farewell event will begin at 5pm on Friday, with nibbles provided.
• Handle With Care is being held in Taupō Museum’s Niven Room from March 23 to May 12. Taupō Museum is open from 10am to 4.30pm daily and entry is free for Taupō District residents with proof of address.