Touch & Gesture: Inga Fillary, Toby Raine & Mo Stewart

For those of us in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, it has been a very wet week. Not quite as wet as some parts of Sydney however. Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by the torrential and unprecedented rainfall across the Tasman. 

All of this rain - the big, full, heavy raindrops that don't seem to have stopped falling to earth in days - has got me reflecting on our senses. I look outside the window and imagine how cold it must be out there. How glad I am to be inside, safe, warm and dry. Yet I don't mind being out in the rain. To feel the cold, moist touch of the elements on my skin reminds me that there is little we truly have control over.

I am reminded too of Hone Tuwhare's beautiful poem, Rain. "I can hear you, making small holes in the silence, rain... But if I should not hear, smell, or feel or see you, you would still define me, disperse me, wash over me, rain." I first encountered this poem pinned to the wall of the Misty Mountain Hut in Piha (a magical spot, perfect for listening, smelling and touching the rain) and the essence of Tuwhare's words has stayed with me. A meditation on the senses, in a handful of simple words, Tuwhare crystallises all that rain is, how vital it is for our existence. 

The essentialness of the elements, of all of our senses, is something that Artfull artists Inga Fillary, Mo Stewart and Toby Raine each explore in their work. While each artist works with vastly different materials and engages with very different subjects, at the core of their practice is embodied gesture - the idea that the physical body is as much a maker of their work as their mind. It's tactile, dynamic, powerful work. It's vital work that you can't help but want to touch. 

Inga Fillary

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland artist Inga Fillary is an artist possessed and obsessed. When I first met Fillary, I was struck by her disarming nature and the determination she has to create work that provokes feelings in her audience. And not simply feelings of shock or awe at the way she uses organic and low hierarchy materials such as bacteria and blood to create her work.

Fillary's bigger intent is to force us to face up to ourselves and the impact we have on the world around us. Her work is confronting, it makes you feel a little uncomfortable. And that's where its power lies. 

I encourage you to experience the power of Fillary's work for yourself this month at The Confessions. A group show curated by Scott Lawrie featuring a selection of female artists, the show opens today, Sunday 10th July from 12-6pm. Open every day at Silo6, Auckland Waterfront (cnr of Corner Beaumont Street and Jellicoe Street). On until July 23rd.

Toby Raine

Toby Raine is one of those artists who live and breath their work. He is in many respects the personification of an artist. His life revolves around his work, and his work revolves around his life - each feeds into and nourishes the other. From rock music, to film and television actors, to cultural icons, Raine's work is an attempt to capture on canvas the feelings and thoughts these other creative fields elicit. The feeling that underpins each work is obvious when gazing at his emotive, gestural oil paintings.

Over the past few years I have got to know Raine and his wife and muse, Lalie. I am always struck by the genuine passion and respect they have for each other, the way they guide and inspire each other in life and in art. A little like Dalí and Gala.

On a recent visit to Raine's home studio in Tāmaki Makaurau's North Shore, where I sat down and talk to Raine about his practice, Raine was working on the body of work currently on show at Scott Lawrie Gallery. Icons, a beautiful series of paintings of some of Aotearoa's creative icons, as well as an exceptionally emotive portrait of Lalie is well worth going to see. 

Mo Stewart

Mo Stewart is an emerging artist based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. When I first encountered Stewart's dynamic, large scale monochromatic abstract works, I have to admit I didn't know where they began or ended. Which is exactly the point.

Like watching a great dancer, or listening to the mesmerisingly minimalist orchestral work of Arvo Pärt, Stewart's work expresses and evokes movement and grace. Underpinned with careful, practiced control, it is the parameters themselves that allow the works to be so utterly free.  

When we spoke, Stewart shared insights into her process. The setting of time limits, material limits, or predefining the type of gestural mark she'll make function as an external structure to her fast paced mind, granting a specific freedom on the surface.

Her's is the type of abstract work that works on you the more time you spend with it. Mo Stewart is definitely one to watch.