Savour
13-26 August
“People often fall in love with one section of a painting and they want to ‘savour’ it, keep it, hold on to it. Then of course there’s the savouring of something delicious. ‘Savour’ talks to the notion of slowing down. Whether it be while eating or looking at a painting, absorbing the experience as much as possible.”—Nicola Bennett
Nicola Bennett is an abstract painter based in Alexandra, Central Otago. Her work is about the pleasure and energy that comes from immersing ourselves in the exploration of sensory knowledge. She begins with the everyday natural ingredients that we cook with—like walnuts, figs, feijoa, black garlic or saffron—and gradually builds her understanding of them through conversations and collaborations with specialist growers and chefs. Absorbing their sense of care, their impassioned stories, their excitement for growing and cooking is an integral part of Bennett’s process of making: gathering this knowledge is the groundwork for her personal journey of discovery into these ingredients through touch, taste, smell, sound and sight whilst cooking with them in her own kitchen. Only after all that does she move into the studio.
Bennett’s paintings are not a simple representation of the ingredients in abstract form but rather her sensory responses to them which come from this entire process of research and discovery. The passion of others in nurturing and pushing possibilities with ingredients plays a significant role in this, adding a rich energy to her sensory experience that Bennett captures in her paintings. In this way she celebrates the sublime aspects of nature’s humble ingredients, representing the wonder about them beyond their material form.
Featured artwork: The Ingredient For A Perfect Weekend
