This exhibition features a selection of paintings by Dunedin artist, Patricia France and poems by Paekākāriki poet, Dinah Hawken.

 

Patricia France (1911-1995) began painting in her fifties. For Patricia, this was life transforming, and she became a dedicated artist, exhibiting regularly over the next thirty years and developing strong friendships with fellow artists. Herexpressive style is at once delicate and subtly powerful. In her figure compositions France aimed to convey the emotional mood of a remembered scene. Her glowing paintings of flowers, however, show her passionate feeling for colour and are an extension of her domestic life in Dunedin where her distinctively furnished and decorated house and garden was the setting for gatherings long remembered by her friends.

 

Dinah Hawken is a poet and relation of Patricia France. She has written a collection of sonnets responding to the work of Patricia France. Faces and Flowers is her tenth collection of poetry published by Te Herenga Waka University Press. These poems are exhibited alongside Patricia’s paintings.

 

Faces & Flowers has been curated by Vicki Robson and Greg O’Brien. Our grateful thanks to all the individuals and organisations who kindly loaned work for the exhibition and to Toi MAHARA—Kāpiti Coast District Gallery for their support of the show.