Kristian Lomath: Long Awaited Exhibition

The story behind Book Work began in 2005/6 while the artist was reclusive and living without electricity in the farming community of Ngakuru, south of Rotorua.

A set of encyclopedias, titled 'Pictorial Knowledge', was Kristian’s main form of entertainment and a resource for understanding the world beyond the process of making art.

Kristian hanging his work at Rotorua's Art Expo Gallery.

The works are a metaphor for the knowledge the visual world holds for people, particularly for artists, who utilise imagery on a daily basis. 

Subtleties established in these individual pieces may be used as studies for larger works.

Each work is part of a record of the artist’s exploration of books, both open and closed.

The works are double framed, or boxed in cases behind glass and, when opened, many expose another work inside.

Kristian's new works open, often to reveal another work inside. 

The concept of works behind works comments on the artist’s practice of painting over other works.

This entails a process of letting go, leaving behind, and often conceals works that represent part of the artist’s life experience.

The historical context of the artist’s growth and development is suggested in the layering of materials such as glass, ink and white oil paint. The palette is elegant and subtle.

In these works, the process of painting is both transparent and reflected on. There is an intimacy and a fragile existence of being in the work.

For more exhibition details contact Kristian at kristianlomath@gmail.com and see more of his work at http://www.kristianlomath.co.nz  

'Book Work' shows from September 12th to October 2nd, 2012 at Creative Tauranga Community Gallery downtown on Willow Street.

by Pete Morris (September, 2012).

Pete Morris is an occasional painter and an art lover. He has a particular interest in promoting the visual arts in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.