Kowhiringa tae (1), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 72 x 3.5cm. Courtesy: the artist and Sanderson Contemporary Art. 

Sanderson present the new exhibition Whakamoe Tau / The Seasons by Jon Tootill (Ngāi Tahu).

This new body of work explores the changing colours of the Liquidamber (Liquidambar styraciflua) tree in Aotearoa over the seasons: Kōanga (Spring), Raumati (Summer), Ngahuru (Autumn) and Takurua/Hōteke (Winter).

Tootill previously featured this tree in his early work The English Trees at Matariki.

Tootill is a painter of Ngāi Tahu and Pākehā ancestry. His artworks are celebrated for their colourful and graphic qualities: a visual vocabulary informed by the artist’s previous career as an art director in the advertising industry in Aotearoa.

The grid pattern used in these works has been developed over time. The artist describes the process as feeling ‘similar to tukutuku’; the traditional Māori art form of decorative wall panelling with ornamental lattice-work.

Whakamoe Tau ‘to know the seasons’ explores the flux and changing nature of Aotearoa’s landscape. The first larger painting Wā Wheuri (be dark, winter) starts with exploring the Matariki period, followed by Wā Matomato (summer season’s lush green),Te Raumarti ki te ngahuru (summer to autumn) and lastly, Wā Whero (turning red, autumn).

The colours in the artworks are inspired by the artist’s immediate surroundings over the course of a year: the colour of fungi and lichen growths, the appearance of small fruits and the subtle changes in foliage.

A full essay by curator Hanna Scott will accompany the exhibition.