Leafy motifs lovingly preserved in Whanganui exhibition

Jim Norris of the Whanganui Fine Arts Collective with some of the works in Katherine Buess' Leaf Lines exhibition. Photo/Stuart Munro

Katherine Buess' Leaf Lines exhibition at the Fine Arts Whanganui Gallery could well be described as a sight for sore eyes.

For eyes tired of looking at industrial landscapes, her artworks offer refreshing arrangements of both native and exotic flora that appear freshly plucked.

They are, in fact, beautifully crafted paper sculptures inspired by the salusalu garlands she received while living in Vanuatu.

"Whenever I received a salusalu, it would remain pinned to the wall until the leaves shrivelled up and lost their colour."

Buess noticed how leaves were used for a range of purposes in the small village where she lived.

"Everywhere I looked leaves were used to make garlands, baskets and mats, or for roof building.

"Like artists and botanists on voyages to Oceania, I also had the ambition to record nature."

Unable to take the organic matter back to her Invercargill home, Buess made her own paper versions which she painted and coated with shellac.

Her paper leaves were then woven, threaded and fashioned into mixed media artworks and jewellery.

Back home, Beuss said it was a natural progression to apply the same techniques to New Zealand native plants and the spiky-leaved horoeka, or lancewood is a particular favourite.

She recently learned that pounded horoeka leaves were used as tools for rock painting by South Island Māori.

"It's a delight to learn that my favourite New Zealand tree has had such an artistic life in the south."

Buess obtained an honours diploma in fine arts at Otago Polytechnic in 1992 and specialised in printmaking until her fascination with leaf motifs led her to paper sculpture.

Her friendship with Whanganui Fine Arts member Gaynor Mullholland lead to her exhibition here.

Leaf Lines is open for viewing at Whanganui Fine Arts Gallery, 17 Taupo Quay until Thursday, September 13.