A young Russian martyr who became a symbol of wartime atrocity, a gang riot in Moerewa, a veiled woman running for safety with a babe in arms, and a soaring, disembodied Whangarei rail bridge - these are among the powerful subjects and equally powerful paintings by artist Raewyn Smith in
an exhibition opening in Whangarei today.
Called Destiny? I don't think so. Not here, the exhibition explores identity - personal, geographic, political, historic. Elegantly composed, Smith's paintings are rich in inherited and purloined narratives that deconstruct temporal and spatial boundaries.
All history is shared, all is personal, and based on anger, violence or destruction, these pieces seem to say.
"My paintings are about stories, and explore the issues around the stories. Stories don't respect boundaries of place or time," Smith said.
"Memories, feelings and events are layered. The past has been broken down, considered, reinterpreted then reconstituted on the canvas."
For example, Refugee Women 1915 shows a burka-clad woman running from what might be a bullet-holed, fire-bombed background. It could be today, anywhere from Afghanistan to Paris to Libya, but the title refers to genocide in Armenia in 1915.
Moerewa Riots 1979 also reflects a war zone.
The Destiny Church comes in for a witty, disturbing remake in one of the many clever works which show Smith's artistry as well as intellect.
The series on a young Soviet Union woman tortured and hanged by a faceless enemy is breathtaking and heartachingly beautiful.
Smith says that as a woman she looks "with a critical eye on the relics of patriarchal governance".
Surprisingly, disarmingly, she also asks herself if she is a "proper storyteller".
Destiny? I don't think so. Not here. by Raewyn Smith, Old Library, Whangarei - May 16 - June 10.
