The synergies that exist between the works of Chris Bailey, Lorene Taurerewa and Mervyn Williams deal with the exploitation of medium and its role in the subject of their diverse artworks.

For Waiheke-based sculptor Chris Bailey, the medium is intrinsically tied to the messages of his artworks and he relishes the inherent characteristics of each chosen piece of stone and wood. The stark planes of Bailey’s Kaitiaki mirror the unyielding nature of the stone and the crystalline granite is scored with dozens of lines, revealing the inner structures and ‘flesh’ of the material, much as lines of genealogy reveal the structures of whanau/family.

Made from totara, a traditional waka building material, his pou celebrate the sleekness of a canoe prow and chiselled indentations suggest the ripples of waters travelled. The wood grain speaks of the history of the totara, and the artist’s hands can be seen in every mark. Each pou is inscribed with a name that tells its individual story: “Matawhaorua was a sacred canoe and could not bring food on board, it was Mamari that brought the sustenance for the crew of Matawhaorua, and the seeds.” (1)

For Mervyn Williams the medium also functions as the message in his paintings. Williams defies the flat surface of the painted canvas by creating illusory planes of perspective and three dimensional forms that only truly exist as plays of light and perception. Utilising the optical trickery of advancing and receding colours, his paintings suggest depth and protrusion; the use of circular forms and concentric circles further enhances this illusion.

Lorene Taurerewa uses delicate washes of hue and traces of line to delineate her subjects in both oil and watercolour paintings. The blurred and disfigured features of her characters mark them as outsiders, and Taurerewa’s deliberate use of empty space evokes further feelings of alienation. Either alone or in seemingly mismatched groupings, the artist has set her subjects adrift in a void with no markers to indicate where they have been or where they are going. The surface of the work becomes a blank stage where the players enact enigmatic, unscripted dramas.

1. www.maoridictionary.co.nz. Accessed 7/8/12.