Scott Gardiner, Light Years, 2021. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 40 x 40cm. Courtesy: the artist and Sanderson Contemporary Art, Auckland.

When examining the history of Scott Gardiner’s practice it becomes obvious there are certain themes which run through out his oeuvre. Time, temporality and the search for meaning key among them. Made in the wake of his father’s death, this body of work became a re-examination of these concerns and a reassessment of his own parameters of importance.

Like a landscape painter returning to the same vista time and again to capture the shifts of light, mood and season at a particular location, the repeated motif in these paintings bare the hallmarks of a pilgrimage. Crossing the threshold of the studio became his pilgrimage, and returning to the same forms every day to glaze for hours, a consoling meditation on time. The deliberate repetition of compositional elements also increases the focus on subtle shifts of light and movement within each painting, as colour and the weight of pigment dictate mood and intensity.

Please note: the gallery is currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, click here to view the exhibition online.

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