Mo-art-a
By Moata Tamaira
A more or less daily exploration through the gallery's collection during COVID-19 lockdown in which I try to recreate artworks, often with a reference to life in the time of coronavirus. Started on 29 March 2020. Recommenced on 18 August 2021.
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Sorry, Whaea Rora, I don't smoke, nor do I own a pipe so I just couldn't go past the old digital thermometer route, with a tissue for added ersatz "smoke".
Māori were disproportionately hard hit in the 1918 Influenza epidemic and current modelling suggests this will also be the case with Covid-19 if we don't keep it at bay.
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As a librarian, how could I resist taking on a portrait of one of New Zealand's most beloved and respected authors? I couldn't. Is it sacrilegious to make it look like she's got icecream around her mouth? Probably, but getting through lockdown with kids is dependent entirely on icecream and lego. So there.
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Apparently yesterday (13 May) was the anniversary of Frances Hodgkins death. Here's my take on one of her still lifes, depicting our Level 3 and 4 life.
"Still life with red jar" becomes "Still life with Big Mac".
Includes things like The Luminaries, the hat a friend knitted and posted to me, hand sanitiser, loose lego, yeast, and kiddo's teddy bear.
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I thought I was done with this but then we went into Level 4 lockdown again (18 August 2021). This is my version of "The artist's wife at the piano" by George Butler, aka "The photographer's wife at a zoom meeting". Lots of pins holding my hair in place. LOTS. And my red dress gets yet another arty outing!
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