B.

This work was created here at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū when Max ran a sumi ink workshop in February 2011, just prior to the Canterbury earthquakes. Max gave the work its title before he flew out of the city on his long trip home to New York. Christchurch Enso offers a tranquil experience; the curved circle of the brushed ink could be read as protecting the city from the trauma of the earthquakes, like the encircling embrace of arms. Or we could see it as a reminder that life goes on even after great upheaval. (Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel, 1 August – 15 November 2020)

“The inherent mystery of painting and drawing. It not being a skill or a talent but rather an enquiry, speculation, probing the depths, searching for a way into the plane. Whatever you are thinking, in Mind, becomes a translation when flattened into the plane, there is thinking in paint, in gesture, into the plane which is unlike any other activity in life. It is mute, silent, rather like being in the sea, under the surface, and looking upwards into the sun striking low through the waters.” —Max Gimblett (Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel 1 August – 15 November 2020)