Exhibition | Parnell Gallery – Matt Payne and Sara Langdon

Salt & Light II:  11 – 25 May The pairing of Matt Payne and Sara Langdon sees the coast meet the mountain, the salt meet the light. In this exhibition of new works from these two talented artists, we are invited to contemplate our familiar terrain with an eye cast toward serene detail. “The aim for me is to capture the essence of what it is I’m painting. It can be an emotion, a feeling or a mood. I am fascinated by how an image is just tiny bits of colour joined or linked together like some sort of code.” Payne does not merely imitate nature; he is bringing painterly fragments to a breathtaking realism. The large scale of Payne’s paintings provides a deep sense that we might simply walk right into the composition, with the water lapping at our feet. “I’m responding to the beauty I see in the landscape, the green terraces and craters changing with the light, views of the dormant volcanic forms differing from one location to the next. A graceful dance of shadow and light”. With an understated and fresh approach to landscape realism, Auckland based contemporary landscape artist, Sara Langdon, invites the viewer to contemplate the mountains themselves, rather than the usual views taken from the summit.