SPA_CE is pleased to present an exhibition from long time collaborators and partners Leanne + Brian Culy.

‘Here + There’

Here

The closed boarders meant it was a golden opportunity to travel in our country, we were strangers in our own land, lonesome visitors.

Undeniable beauty was there but the overwhelming feeling of abandonment presented itself.

These images I selected from our South Island road trip is my response to that.

Brian Culy, 2021

There

My work on the face of it has no reference to reality, but it is actually not far from the truth.

Like a re written history these gardens are a metaphor for the changing landscape and where we are heading. Invasive garden glories are entangled in our landscape telling stories of our colonial advance to bring colour to our green and brown.

I have to admit when travelling around the South Island towards the end of Summer, my enthusiasm for the natural beauty waned. The grimness of the colourless landscape mixed with long stretches of industrial alterations depressed me! A half cast landscape parading its beauty but with no real identity.

Leanne Culy, 2021.