Milford Galleries Queenstown is pleased to present the third Royal Queenstown Easter Show. This is a comprehensive exhibition that showcases works from a broad selection of our artists working in glass, ceramics and paint.

For the first time we are showing works from Bridie Henderson, the youngest-ever winner of the Portage Ceramics Supreme Award (in 2011) and whose entry Feathers was called ‘exceptional’ and ‘ stunning ’ by international judge Janet Mansfield. From the same winning series, Henderson uses her own blend of porcelain to create delicate feathers which are strung on hand woven cords. Exploring ideas of fragility, weight and texture; the tension between the hard, brittle medium and the (normally) soft, flexible form is further enhanced by backlighting that makes each necklace glow in its individually crafted display case.

Darryn George’s Doctor #2 and Doctor #3 also speak to the ideas of fragility and strength. After the February 2011 Canterbury earthquake, George began a series of word paintings and in these works 'Atua’ (God) and ‘Takuta’ (physician) reference ways in which individuals search for strength, aid and healing in times of need. In contrast to George’s limited palette and structured, geometric composition, Ray Ching’s At the Museum – The Cry of the Karearea plays with a dream-like combination of printed comic strips, handwritten narrative and his astonishingly detailed portraits of New Zealand’s native falcon, which calmly perch on a woman soaring through the air.

Glass artist Sue Hawker reveals once more her command of the demanding pate de verre glass technique in her new Gilding the Lily forms. Citrus lime and powder blue swirls form sculptural vessels with a crystalline finish that glitters in the light. John Parker presents new ‘bleeding’ ceramic works with a crackled finish of white over Egyptian Red, an emphatic change from the glossy glazes with which he is more often associated.

Glass and ceramics from Christine Thacker, Galia Amsel, Emily Siddell and Michael Crawford also feature in the show, along with paintings Michael Hight, Nigel Brown, Peata Larkin, Mike Petre, Paul Martinson, Andy Leleisi’uao, Dick Frizzell, Karl Maughan, Elizabeth Rees and Justin Boroughs.