Polly Gilroy's Inspiration from Europe to Ōtautahi

Drawing from the visual world to stimulate my practice, I try to take fleeting photos of juxtapositions or the simple and mundane moments of light and colour. I have recently returned from a 3.5 month long Europe trip where I was immensely inspired by each new environment. Carrying my film camera everywhere, I found myself capturing colourful and intimate moments of light hitting a window, or a line of garments tied between buildings.

Since being back in my home city Ōtautahi, Christchurch, I have been settling back into my studio rhythm and taking an occasional break in the dense native bush Aotearoa has to offer. The convenience of Pūtaringamotu/Riccarton Bush in the city has been long appreciated with the markets every Saturday, but for a day trip, the drive to Banks Peninsula’s Hinewai reserve is so well worth it!

One of my favourite shops Frances Nation, is a staple in the Christchurch Art Centre. Located right down the road from the Christchurch Art Gallery, Francis Nation sells some of the most beautifully New Zealand crafted homewares, food, jewellery and so much more.

 

Special mention: Apostle Lavender and Rosemary Hot Honey - best served on harissa carrots (Recipe by the Two Raw Sisters More Salad)

I recently visited Scaffold, an exhibition by Katharina Jaeger, which utilises materiality and light to engage a viewer’s physical presence and their spatial awareness. Recontextualising the personal and the anonymous, Jaeger sews together sleeping bags, bed spreads and curtains in this intriguing immersive installation that weaves its way throughout the room.

An old art book I always seem to go back to is Permanent Constructions, a playful publication by Jeremy August Haik who photographs, collages, and re-photographs colour, light, and form into highly considered abstract compositions. The short essay at the front of the book inspired me to revisit the use of black within my practice.

“At once present and absent, at once a fullness and an emptiness, at once the absorption of all light and the total absence of light…Black is at once the foundation of all colour and, in its absence or emptiness, it is also what undermines the substantiality of all colour.”

A constant reference in my practice is light and shadow. I love finding new relationships, often drawing inspiration from the forming shapes and tonal shifts. 

 

While I am working on my artworks at home, I often find myself putting on one of Leisure’s vinyls. Leisure is soul-electronic collective from Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.