Parnell artist Kathryn Carter captures the essence of light and monumentality of New Zealand’s coastal landscape in her upcoming solo exhibition Between Earth and Sky.
Light-filled landscapes by award-winning artist and architect Kathryn Carter draw you in and wrap you in a blanket of familiarity as well as wonder.
Her paintings of headlands and islands in Northland — a constant study and inspiration — imbue a sense of connection and power of the landscape. Perhaps this is why so many of her works have been snapped up over the years by ex-pats living abroad, seeking a piece of home.
While Northland is a recurring theme, Carter’s works are representative of coastal New Zealand. “they represent a feeling about the landscape which is a universal thing.” says Carter.
“Capturing the light” is another of her gifts; that which exists for the briefest moments as it sparkles on the sea; dances through showers of rain; and frames headlands at dawn and dusk. Her fascination with light began 30 years ago at the University of Auckland’s Architecture School under the tutelage of artist Pat Hanley, who taught her to ʻnarrow the eyes down and really look at the light and the shadow in order to describe the form”.
“I have drawn on the spirit of his teaching philosophy as I continue to paint. It]s the human perspective within the landscape, so often landscapes I paint are quite monumental in relation to the human scale,” she says.
Ink or oils are her preferred mediums. She works with inks at Matapouri where she and husband Luke have a bach. The oils are painted at Railways Street Studios, a space she shares with the artist collective of the same name.
“Using ink is a similar concept to using watercolour, but it’s a stronger way of explaining what I see. There is more power in the paint,” explains Carter. “I have to work quite quickly to catch that as the light changes, or I’d miss it. I have to make a lot of decisions based on my painting experience about how I’m going to grab it. I paint a lot of paintings. A lot of them I’m not satisfied with. Not every one is perfect. There are bits of perfection in some of them. It’s really hard to catch it – it’s like grabbing light.”
Carter spends two months of the year painting in Northland and never tires of the landscape. “The form changes all the time based on the light levels. It’s always different. I’m interested in exploring how light alters form and colour,” she says. “I feel a sense of peace … you
can sit and watch the changing showers, the rain coming through and the sun coming out – there is somehow a reassuring continuity with that.”
Carter’s prowess as an artist was recognised earlier this year when her painting, “Island Escarpment”, was the winner of the Marlborough Arts Society prize at the Peters Doig Marlborough Art Awards, praised by the judges for her “use of colour and complementary values” and “bold brush strokes”.
Her upcoming solo exhibition, Between Earth and Sky, is an exploration of identity connected to geographical isolation, perception and memory.
“The landforms sit between the earth and the sky and so there is a sense of suspension between the two,” Carter explains. “Between earth and sky exists the realm of the horizon, the imaginative earthly line and space between two dimensions.
The land represents the solid and familiar and the sea and islands the unknown journey that can provide a pathway into it.”
A quote by explorer Abel Tasman, who described New Zealand as ‘a large land, uplifted high’, was also part inspiration. “Even though we are islands there is a sense of monumentality about the landscape,” Carter says.
Between Earth and Sky is her second solo exhibition, following Towards Another Summer (2013), a collection of seascapes and island landscapes.
When she’s not painting Carter is an active member of the Auckland Architecture Association (AAA), a voluntary association and public interface for architecture that advocates for high quality design in Auckland.
What does she hope people take from her work? “Enjoyment actually. Life’s hard enough. Ideally it would provide a new perspective on something the viewer has seen before in their memory of the New Zealand landscape, and if they connect to that because they have seen it themselves, then that’s a success.”
— Carolyn Enting
Between Earth and Sky is showing at Railway Street Studios, 8 Railway St, Newmarket from October 15 to November 3 2015.