Earth Wise
Whanganui Chronicle/Midweek, Article by Mike Street
Wednesday May 17, 2017
Born in Whanganui, Hamish lived abroad for more than 30 years, based in London, gaining himself a reputation as an artist of the first calibre. Examples of his work can be found around the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Last year Joan and I saw some for ourselves at Bushy Park, during the Open Studios, where there was a sculpture exhibition. The pieces he had crafted were glorious - tactile, sinuous, voluptuous.
Last Saturday the Milbank Gallery opened an exhibition of Hamish's recent work, including paintings on paper. Earth Wise is described in the notes as embracing 'the spirit and energy of nature, reflecting the harmony and change in landscape and culture. The rhythms, layers and forms that spring from the natural world are the underlying essence for his work as sculptor, painter and photographer'. The compact gallery contains 11 sculptures and 17 paintings. Their power is overwhelming. The former particularly, I felt, inhabit the gallery, making the space their own, producing, as they do, a quasi-spiritual resonance there. Each one draws the viewer in magnetically.
Hamish's work is greatly influenced by his philosophical beliefs, regular journeys to Tibet creating a genuine empathy for its Buddhist faith and culture. As a consequence, he received a commission to construct The Tibetan Peace Garden, which was opened, in central London, in 1999 by the Dalai Lama. Three years earlier the Sarjeant Gallery held an exhibition of his photographs, Near to Heaven. Travels through Tibet, as part of which he brought three monks here to make a Sand Mandala under the dome. The project proved immensely popular, drawing more than 15,000 visitors in 10 days.
The paintings, predominantly gouache on paper, have a mesmerising effect. Segments of concentric circles, spirals, jagged edges like corrugated roofing, receding, approaching - they are delicately coloured and neatly delineated. Is there a beginning? An end? Or is the beginning the end?
Please visit and decide for yourself. This exhibition, running until June 6, is a must!