What’s in the Stockroom?

To celebrate 10 years since we started our ‘What’s in the Stockroom?’ newsletter, each week we wander through one of the region’s premiere stockrooms to find out what treasures lay inside.

Weasel Gallery

This week we visit Hamilton New Zealand’s Weasel Gallery (soon to be Laree Payne Gallery), with Director Laree Payne.

SIGN UP TO ART COLLECTOR’S STOCKROOM NEWSLETTERS

Hannah Ireland, Spiced Rum, 2020. Watercolour, ink and house paint on glass, framed 31.5 x 23 x 4.5cm.

“Working on the reverse side of glass, Hannah Ireland paints portraits whereby the viewer is privy to her initial marks, rather than the marks re-worked which remain hidden,” says Payne. “Occupying their box-like frames, Ireland’s sitters are carefully housed, looking outwards from a thin and sleek exterior. Through the process of making, Ireland mimics the experience of presenting the self; aspects we leave hidden, attributes we move forwards, and the ambiguity in between as we adjust the mask.”

Laura Williams, The Judas Kiss, 2020. Acrylic on board, 30 x 40 x 1.8cm.

“The Judas Kiss is from a series Laura Williams painted earlier this year titled Of Biblical Proportions (the work was intended for the Auckland Art Fair but was never shown due to Covid-19). Williams depicts Judas and Jesus beneath the night sky dotted with daisy-stars, and in front of a backdrop of phallic hedging and ball bushes. What’s not to love?”

Harry McAlpine, Guiding Hand, 2020. Charcoal on 600gsm cotton rag, framed 8.4 x 6.4 x 3.5cm.

“Working in charcoal on cotton rag, McAlpine’s neatnik drawings address a range of contemporary concerns such as identifying the truth. Conveyed using a range of low-fi materials such as cardboard tubing, McAlpine’s dystopian hyper-realistic drawings elucidate complex issues through a process of simmering them down. McAlpine’s technical proficiency is noteworthy, however the strength behind his thinking is what I enjoy most.”