Linette Wallbank
Into the Unknown
Journeys into landscape.
Ecologist Geoff Parks quotes Frank Gohike in Nga Uru Ora… “Landscapes are collections of stories, only fragments of which are visible at any one time. In linking the fragments, unearthing the connections between them, we create the landscape anew.”[1]
The language of landscape in Aotearoa is complex. The word stain has many connotations. Being aware of the history of the landscape painting makes me want to take my work in different directions than the romantic or regional traditions. I use watered-down pigment that acts as a stain. I am also interested in how one fluid substance and its consequent image transfers onto another surface layered beneath. Essentially what we have left is a memory of what was there before. It is the same with landscapes. What we have now contains the memory of what was there before.
My paintings create a connection to the land, sea, and sky. Referencing landscape memories. Revealing my spiritual connection to the land.
[1] Geoff Park, Nga Uru Ora. The Groves of Life. Ecology and History in a New Zealand Landscape. Wellington: Victoria University Press.
