claim to clay – exhibition
claim to clay – an exhibition by Joanna Fieldes and Fran Maguire,
Auckland Botanic Gardens, Visitor Centre Huakaiwaka, 15 Nov 2010 – 9 Jan 2011
Maori weapons, tea cups, doilies, jugs and Joseph Banks are a few aspects of ‘claim to clay’ - a joint exhibition by Auckland based painter Joanna Fieldes and Marlborough ceramic artist Fran Maguire at the Auckland Botanic Gardens, Visitor Centre Huakaiwaka, Hill Road, Manurewa, Auckland from 15 November until 9 January 2011. Open 8.00am – 4.30pm Mon – Fri and 9.00am - 5.00pm Sat & Sun.
This is a collaborative exhibition in which both artists use vessels to present work about New Zealand’s colonial past: Fieldes uses vessels within her oil paintings as a metaphor for Maori and Pakeha and colonial settlement, Maguire as guardians and carriers of culture and ritual.
Joanna Fieldes has established her reputation as a painter with a strong social conscience. Her work is held in public and private collections. She articulates a form of storytelling through paint by juxtaposing the imported with the indigenous. Using a rich imagination and strong painterly style, Joanna places traditional European domestic vessels in typical New Zealand landscapes. Her colour palette is familiar and seductive to any New Zealander. Joanna’s work points to the challenges that biculturalism presents. There is a tension in her work which provokes question.
Fran Maguire is a well-known, award-winning ceramic artist who has worked with clay since the early 1990s. Some of the ideas invested in this work are: The migration and preservation of ritual and culture through domestic objects; the oddity of ornate Victorian vessels in an early New Zealand context; European flowers and New Zealand native insects; the connection to an ancestral past through domestic objects – the china cabinet; the privilege of art, the necessity of craft and compromise of materials.
This is a thought-provoking, intelligent exhibition by two well-established artists, and should provide any visitor to the Auckland Botanic Gardens visitor’s centre this summer with food for thought.
For more information and material about claim to clay please contact either
Joanna Fieldes by email joanna@fieldes.co.nz or phone 09 299 6590 (www.joannafieldes.co.nz) or
Fran Maguire by email fran@franmaguire.co.nz or phone 03 577 8243 (www.franmaguire.co.nz)
JOANNA FIELDES
Biography
Joanna Fieldes (nee Abraham) is an artist who is carving out a strong reputation for herself with a unique vision of her country and culture. New Zealand’s colonial past is a central recurrent theme.
Through her elegant oil paintings she articulates a form of storytelling by juxtaposing the imported with the indigenous. Using a rich imagination and strong painterly style, Joanna places traditional European domestic vessels in typical New Zealand landscapes. Her colour palette is familiar and seductive [to any New Zealander]. Joanna’s work points to the challenges that biculturalism presents. There is a tension in her work which provokes question.
Joanna is a self-taught artist who has pursued a distinctive style of her own, unencumbered by conventional modes of representation, to produce paintings that are instantly recognizable for their particular vernacular. Jugs and bowls in anthropomorphic guise totter about in a deftly conjured landscape of “anywhere” New Zealand.
In Joanna’s painted worlds, vessels are a vehicle for ideas… containers of history that link past to present. The artist offers no firm conclusions but rather offers up her ideas as food for thought and stimulus for discussion in an on-going cultural debate.
Joanna has work in collections both here and overseas, she has been invited to participate in successful regional public gallery exhibitions and has had critically acclaimed shows in leading dealer galleries.
“With my paintings I aim to make people hesitate so my marks have a better chance of being looked at, being seen again, to evoke thought and awaken the mind,” – Joanna Fieldes
EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS
2009 - Finalist in the James Wallace Award
2008 - The painting 'Casserole' was included in the Manukau City Council Axis: Selected works exhibition, as part of the Manukau Festival of Arts 08. The painting is part of the Manukau City art collection
2007 - Painting 'Headland', 2006, included in Whangarei Art Museum/ Outreach Gallery, Kauri Festival, ‘Tears for Tanes Children' exhibition
- Paintings feature in 'Celebrate Art Resources' pack which can be obtained from www.integratededucation.com
2006 - Gravy, Solo exhibition, OREX GALLERY (Oedipus Rex Gallery), Auckland
2005 - Painting 'The Offering', 2003, was included in the significant KIWI,
Group exhibition, Rotorua Museum of Art and History
- Group Show, Koro lounge, International Airport
- Commissioned painting, 'Gentian Connection', 2004, was officially presented to Prince Akishinomiya and Princess Kiko, members of the Japanese Royal family.
2004 - Food for Thought, Solo show, Ardor Gallery, Parnell
2003 - The Drama of the Seen, Group show, Ardor Gallery
2001 - Art for Collection, Joint show, Papakura Art Gallery
2000 - Art for Collection, Joint show, Papakura Art Gallery
1999 - Just a Country Girl at Heart, Taylor-Jensen Fine Arts Gallery, Palmerston North
- Joint Show, Papakura Art Gallery
1998 - Sacred Sheep, Solo show, Gallery 16, Kumeu
- Highly Commended, Ida Eise Award, ASA (painting titled 'Politics with Attitude')
- Commendation Award at the Iris Fisher selected works exhibition, Pakuranga Art Society - Fisher Gallery 9 painting titled 'Crown Roast 2')
1997 - Finalist in the Nola Holmwood Trust for Portrait Painting Award
- Guest artist for the biennial Eketahuna Art Exhibition
1994 - Solo show, Old Firehouse Gallery, Waipu
Joanna Fieldes claim to clay
14 Nov 2010 – 9 Jan 2011
artist’s statement
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As an artist, I see paint as a way to articulate my thoughts and ideas about the land and society I live in. My paintings are a vehicle for stimulating conversation about issues that affect us all, particularly the role of New Zealand’s colonial past and how it still impacts on today and into the future.
There is a strong element of storytelling and satire in these scenes, which juxtapose the ‘imported’ with the ‘indigenous’. The recurrent use of ceramic vessels dominates my work - acting both as containers of colonial culture and as the colonizers/colonized themselves, bearing links to the past and the future. The mix of colonial and Maori iconography draws from my own experiences of growing up and living in rural New Zealand, with a love of our flora, fauna and country side.
I am ever mindful of those early settlers - including my own direct ancestors – whose attempt to re-create a “Little England” on these shores, has become part of our colonial history. They came to settle; farm and garden, and some to even preach Christianity, bringing with them the seeds of our future.
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