Oil Pastel on Archival Paper
19.75 x 25.75 inches
2014-15
Inspiration for this painting came from the landscape surrounding Gisborne, New Zealand, a town on the Northeast coast of the North Island where my family and I lived for a year (2014-2015). Gisborne is the site of the first contact that took place between the native Maori people and Westerners (Pakeha), an event that stands as the first episode of the bloodshed that would dominate relations between these groups well into the 20th century.
The landscape surrounding the valley is comprised of beautiful “sheep-infested” treeless hills that show strange shadows among the sinuous ridges and sagging landslides. The valley floor was once a deep lowland jungle, but is now devoted, in a large part, to fruit orchards, vineyards and wine production. There is a small remnant of the old jungle just outside of town in a nature reserve called Gray’s Bush. Though this reserve is small, it provides a breathtaking glimpse into this vanishing ecosystem. The ancient forest is dominated by strange podocarp trees, remnants of a forest that dates back to the time of Gondwanaland (over 180 million years ago), such as the kahikatea that the trees in this painting are modeled after. Gray’s Bush is the inspiration for this painting.
The title, “The Reserve” is a double entendre, referring both to the nature reserve as well as the special batches of wine produced by local wineries referred to as “the reserve”. A vineyard occupies the foreground of this painting.
Gray’s Bush: near the entrance.
Classic root buttresses of a Gray’s Bush podocarp.
The edge of Gray’s Bush, with a flock of the ubiquitous sheep of the area.