Ben Reid 

there must be some kind of mistake 

Like a modern-day Audubon, whose work far transcended mere
documentation of the natural world, Ben Reid has both a rare, delicate talent,
and has a craftman’s appreciation for fine workmanship. There’s a Bauhaus-
like purity, not only in the fashioning of his intaglio and relief prints, but also in
his gritty, purposeful role as ethical adventurer and witness to nature’s trials
and tribulations.
A seasoned and thoughtful explorer, Reid is habitually drawn to the
vulnerability of New Zealands delicately balanced ecosystems, focusing and
filtering their complex light into art both decorative and slyly subversive.

Inspired by the thinking of Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson and Wendell Berry,
all luminaries in early environmental preservation. He warns that no mistake
can be fully reversed and caution against adding the further crimes of
arrogance, and forgetfulness to the original sin of playing God.

the devil and the deep blue sea
Following the announcement of the first marine reserve in New Zealand
in 1975 the local newspaper, the Rodney Times headline was
‘NOTHING TO DO AT GOAT ISLAND ANYMORE’. The thinking being if
you can’t catch a fish then what else is there to do?
The irony is that in 2024 over 300,000 people visited this reserve in
Northland to immerse themselves in the simple joy of what nature has to
offer.

Pareidolia
With most of my work referencing historical events this work is a step
forward in that it is focused on a more contemporary issue.
This moth is of no particular species, it is unknown.
I have transposed the markings often found on exotic moths’ forewings
with emblems associated with travel. My wish is to generate thought and
awareness of the ongoing importance of protecting our boarders from
unwanted and potentially dangerous newcomers.

Ben Reid 

there must be some kind of mistake 

Like a modern-day Audubon, whose work far transcended mere
documentation of the natural world, Ben Reid has both a rare, delicate talent,
and has a craftman’s appreciation for fine workmanship. There’s a Bauhaus-
like purity, not only in the fashioning of his intaglio and relief prints, but also in
his gritty, purposeful role as ethical adventurer and witness to nature’s trials
and tribulations.
A seasoned and thoughtful explorer, Reid is habitually drawn to the
vulnerability of New Zealands delicately balanced ecosystems, focusing and
filtering their complex light into art both decorative and slyly subversive.

Inspired by the thinking of Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson and Wendell Berry,
all luminaries in early environmental preservation. He warns that no mistake
can be fully reversed and caution against adding the further crimes of
arrogance, and forgetfulness to the original sin of playing God.

there must be some kind of mistake 

During the 18 th and 19 th centuries people developed a fascination with
new science, and the workings of the natural world.
Sir Walter Buller New Zealands famed 19 th century, lawyer and naturalist
was aware that the Huia was almost certainly to become extinct so, he
set about collecting as many birds as he could to be stuffed and keep as
curiosities in museums, universities, and private collections all over the
world. Almost always at expense of live specimens and sometimes
whole species.
We struggle today to understand the logic in this, but we need to
remember the different times and attitudes of the day. The ethic of
conservation had little to no foothold in common or intellectual thought in
1888.
We also hadn’t developed any scientific or practical strategies around
how you preserve an endangered species.
Taxidermy fascinates me and I see it as an intention to capture a
specimen halfway between life and death. Neither one nor the other.
I have chosen to draw these native species at the stage when the
taxidermist mounts the skins onto an armature and needs it held before
the glues cure. Historically pins and bandages were some of the
methods employed.
Bandages are also symbols of nurture, healing, and repair.

I am not satisfied depicting just a moth or bird or fish. I always impose
some alteration, addition, or manipulation that I hope, adds narrative,
punch and a depth of meaning.
My intention is not to make my work too confronting, more
unconventionally beautiful, thought provoking and contemplative.
I’m looking at my own role in the world and asking you to do the same of
yours.
What are our responsibilities, our obligations our hopes and our
dreams?
Our past helps us learn about our future.

Charlie Douglas
Charlie Douglas spent a lifetime exploring the remote and rugged West
Coast of the South Island in the 19 th century.
He desired nothing more than the clothes he stood up in, very
rudimentary shelter and some food to fill his belly. He lived off the land
he travelled over.
I admire him for his good nature, this disregard of material wealth, his
hardiness, and most of all his keen sense of observation and the respect
he had of the land and of the creatures he encounted.
Many of the words that adorn these artworks are extracts from the
journals of Charlie Douglas.
He shared his campsite with the now extinct* South Island kōkako and
can attest that this bird processed the most beautiful song of all.

* In environmental circles whether the orange wattled, cousin of the
North Island kōkako, the South Island kōkako is extant, is very hotly
debated.
430 encounters have been claimed in the last 8 years alone.
None have been proven. The species is officially classed as ‘data
deficient’.

                 .  

Sandra Hussey 

Pooled Resources

These works reflect my interest in the transformative qualities of acrylic paint; its fluidity, plasticity and unpredictability. I exploit these features to produce paintings by pouring paint directly onto canvas. Experimenting with combinations of paint and acrylic mediums I also pour paint onto various other surfaces. For these works I used glass. The dried paint is transformed into skins. Once peeled off the glass these skins of paint now become portable and when collaged to a painting, function as compositional and spatial devices which have potential to further activate the image.

The natural environment informs my practice. But how do we define the “natural” environment? This term now comes under increasing scrutiny as almost every part of Earth has been modified by human activity. There is symmetry between the flow of poured paint and the fluidity of water. As the ubiquity of plastic in both marine and fresh water systems is increasing, these acrylic paintings may function as a conduit to further the discourse on this issue.

                 .   .   

Catherine Manchester
LANDSCAPES OF THE MIND

Waking dreams tease from us imagery, thoughts and experiences that are
broken or incomplete. I collect fragments from dreams, previous paintings,
pixelated photographs, imagery from my own writing or working on a film.
Pixelated imagery gave me a new palette, distortion or shorthand version of a
subject. Simple box like shapes represented a building and gave me a new
direction in which to convey notions of our contradictory relationship to the
natural world. In these superimpositions the natural and urban world are
fused. Intially the pixelations I chose were painterly and broad rather than the
neat pixelations of digital art. I deviated from the original image often and the
images resembled a landscape, and overlaid with fragmented memories or
dreams of which I call the landscape of the mind. I have dreamt of the pulsing
organic world beneath our feet, which has encouraged me to look at our
human world limitations. The natural world evokes within us moods from the
elements. In the painting Guests of Summer a tableau of figures sit in both a
manmade and natural world .The title alludes to how we are but guests of the
natural world which we have long chosen to remodel and change. Wisps of
my own imagery are blended together with cultural and political concerns from
the pixelating TV on a night of wild weather.