Kushana Bush: Glukupikron
![Kushana Bush Glukupikron 2020. Gouache, watercolour and metallic gouache on paper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, 2020](/media/cache/0f/2d/0f2d30f3e6be900b210fd95392acc094.jpg)
Kushana Bush Glukupikron 2020. Gouache, watercolour and metallic gouache on paper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, 2020
My sister owns a gorgeous Kushana Bush work that I have coveted for some time. I think I had been subconsciously mind-banking her works since seeing it. Then, when I was overseas last year and feeling a little homesick, I listened to an RNZ National podcast of Charlotte Wilson interviewing the artist (Art, Life, Music: Kushana Bush). Kushana’s choice of music to accompany the interview was bliss: carefully chosen pieces by Bach, Satie, Britten, Bayaka pygmies and Jack Body.
This set me on a frenzied search, and I found myself ravenously scouring the internet for images of a work I could get my hands on. I went to exhibitions and searched for months, but in vain – I could not locate the ‘one’ I was looking for. Eventually my energy waned and I stopped searching.
Suddenly, on entering the exhibition Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, I spotted it. Glukupikron sat quietly alongside works by Rita Angus and Robyn Kahukiwa and it was a beauty – a marvellous scene of human and beast tied-up activity set amongst a rocky coast with billowing smoke and swirling water. Meticulous, romantic, exotic and modern. Some friends of mine were inspecting it and I sidled up with a faux casual interest that hid my astonishment. How did that get there? I guess it’s no surprise that the Gallery is far better at finding great artworks than me.
“Why is it good?”, asked my teenager teasingly. “It just is, go ask the curator.”
My search complete, I left the Gallery bedazzled, but empty handed. It might not be mine to possess, but thankfully and luckily, ‘the one’ remains in the Gallery, for everyone to enjoy. A loud round of applause for the anonymous benefactor who supported the purchase.
They are a person of far nobler intentions than mine own.