My Favourite
My Favourite
Selwyn Toogood, Levin
I spent much of my adolescence in hospital, confined to bed due to a chronic illness. With a 14" TV beside me, I’d travel to imaginary places via the controller of my Nintendo games console. At the time, I couldn’t imagine walking to the letterbox, let alone experiencing the more exotic places of the world.
My Favourite
Lonnie Hutchinson's sista7
I am writing about a favourite piece from the Gallery’s collection in autumn 2015, when that collection is in storage and the Gallery is closed at least until Christmas, so I’m prompting memory by consulting the online catalogue. It’s brilliant: hundreds of images, 90 percent of the entire 7,000 collection, but to be honest, it feels a bit odd.
My Favourite
Piranesi's Veduta dell’Anfiteatro Flavio
I have long been drawn to etchings, and engravings, prints and plans, sections, even blueprints. Blue is probablygetting a bit racy though… plain black and white does it for me quite adequately.
My Favourite
Wayne Youle's The Saviour
Many months after the major February earthquake, we were told by the authorities that we were allowed to salvage whatever we could from our business – provided it fitted into a single wheelie bin.
My Favourite
Russell Clark's Cabbage Tree in Flower
I wasn’t familiar with Russell Clark’s work until I looked through the Gallery’s online collection, but I found myself immediately attracted to this painting because of its subject.
My Favourite
Peter Roche's Untitled 2011
Since I moved to Christchurch quite recently, I don’t have a particular old friend in the collection that I miss spending time with. However, I do have fond memories of my first visit to Christchurch as a University of Otago student during the summer holidays.
My Favourite
Frances Hodgkins's Pleasure Garden 1932
I see pumpkins floating through the air.
I see apples, or maybe they are pears?
A lampshade, looking worn and rubbery,
Casting shadows over statues snogging in the shrubbery.
My Favourite
Petrus van der Velden's The Dutch Funeral 1875
If I don’t watch at least three films a week, my life starts to feel unsettled. Five is a good average to see me through, but above all at least one of these films must be terrifying.