Philly’s “beasties” beautiful after all
Philly Hall and her latest exhibition, which will run until 27 November. Photo: Ina Holst.
A multitude of colourful, shimmering, winged and moist-eyed beasties are crawling, flying or staring from the walls in Takaka’s MONZA Gallery.
Since opening MONZA eight years ago, gallery owner Philly Hall is hosting her own exhibition for the first time.
It includes works depicting well-known native insects and birds in acrylic, some on beautifully textured wood. “A lot of people are not keen on insects and the little creepy things, and I wanted to bring out the beauty of the beasties.”
“I always loved detail, animals and nature,” says Philly about the motivation for her work. “I started by doing detailed paintings of insects and then extended to birds. They are a huge part of my life.”
The exhibition also features springtime calves and lambs—which are too hard to resist, says Philly. “They are so very Kiwi and are part of our Kiwi landscape.” Eels also feature strongly. She has spent many hours watching the way they move and feeding them in the river close to her home.
The main features of the exhibition, facing the gallery entrance, are the two painted piano panels alive with fluttering birds and insects that seemingly drop off the surface. Her Kaituna Bluff Weta looks ready to jump from his moss and lichen-covered slab. Many of the smaller pieces are painted on cottonwood slabs that are sanded, undercoated and finally fixed with a sealant.
“I love painting on recycled panels or any interesting surfaces. It’s often beautiful wood, and I am almost reluctant to paint on it, and minimise my painting to show as much as possible of the surface.”
Philly has been painting professionally for 10 years and is largely self-taught. As a pupil of a small private school in Christchurch she was urged to produce a piece of art every weekend as part of the school’s requirements. Her search for objects to capture on paper often took her into the natural environment, where she received a “good grounding for observing detail in nature”. Her love for nature and all things small and beautiful shines through all her work.
Beauty of the Beasties can be viewed until 27 November at MONZA during business hours.
Ina Holst
