Remnants, Remains: Kirsty Gardiner Ceramics Exhibition

Remnants, Remains: Kirsty Gardiner Touring Ceramics Exhibition begins at Aratoi

MASTERTON, WAIRARAPA, NEW ZEALAND

ARATOI Wairarapa Museum of Art and History in Masterton, presents "Remnants, Remains", a new exhibition by leading ceramic artist Kirsty Gardiner, opening Fridayevening February 2nd at 5:30pm and running until March 18th.

KIRSTY GARDINER HAS BEEN EXHIBITING THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND FOR OVER 20 YEARS, and ‘Remnants, Remains’ is her fourth solo show at Aratoi. the Museum offers the exhibition "Remnants, Remains" for touring to other venues.

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO MEET THE ARTIST on Saturday morning, February 3rd, at 11am: the artist will guide viewers through the show.

GARDINER HAS WON SEVERAL AWARDS, INCLUDING THE PORTAGE CERAMIC AWARDS. Australian ceramic artist Stephen Bowers, who judged those Awards, described Gardiner’s work as referencing “dreams, science, museums, laboratories, mummy jars, collections, nature and metamorphosis." Gardiner also won the 2013 Wairarapa Art Review Premier Award and the Excellence Award from the 2015 New Zealand Society of Potters ‘Elements’ exhibition.

THE ARTIST'S HUIA BIRDS AND FLIGHTS OF MOTHS HAVE BECOME WELL-KNOWN, but her practice is far broader, including fantasy birds and other creatures, and whole environments. Some of her most recent work refers to the devastating bleaching of coral in the world’s oceans, an exquisite reminder of the fragility of the marine ecosystems threatened by climate change and pollution.

THE 'REMNANTS, REMAINS' EXHIBITION EXPLORES IDEAS SURROUNDING HISTORY, FANTASY, ORNITHOLOGY, AND SECOND-HAND SHOPS . An op-shop enthusiast, Gardiner imagines what such a shop would have looked like in the year 1900 – what items would one find? ‘Remnants, Remains’ presents those imagined objects, as seen in her installation ‘Rag and Bottle Shop’, a medley of small mid-fire porcelain objets d’art.

A FOCAL POINT OF THE SHOW IS 'INNATE WHISPERS' -- A PORCELAIN INSTALLATION OF 29 WALL-MOUNTED KōKAKO inspired by the Three Flying Ducks wallpaper in her grandmother’s kitchen and a piece of French linen depicting fantastical birds in strange flight that she found at an op-shop. Fired to different temperatures to create change in scale and colour, the work pays homage to the South Island Kōkako.

GARDINER HAS SEVERAL INFLUENCES – her childhood in rural South Africa, French and English porcelain, New Zealand ornithologist Walter Buller, the father of nonsense literature Lewis Carroll, and poetry. For eight years, Gardiner worked part-time at Aratoi as a gallery technician and was also deeply inspired by the Collections at the Museum.

FOR VENUES INTERESTED IN TOURING THE EXHIBITION, please contact the Director of Aratoi, Susanna Shadbolt (www.aratoi.co.nz).

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