Hamilton Press (19. October 2005)
Sand art unites the world
By GAIL HENSHAW
WOLFSBURG Meets Waikato is an exhibition by three German artists at the Cambridge town hall next week.
The artists are the first to exhibit in Cambridge under the Wolfsburg/Waikato/German/New Zealand Artist Exchange initiative, organised by German ceramic artist Elvira Herrmann and Cambridge artist Lynette Murray.
The biennial New Zealand-German artist exchange between Cambridge and Wolfsburg will feature works by Elvira Herrmann and Lynette Murray along with German sand artist
Ruthild Tillmann and German silk and textile artist Hella Ness.
Last year Lynette, along with local textile artist Raewyn Penrose, visited Germany where they held an exhibition, Waikato Trifft (meets) Wolfsburg, in a 635-year-old castle.
Lynette said the language barrier had not been a problem. "Art is a visual language. So it doesn't matter ... through the art we can still communicate."
Ruthild's works on show include three she brought from Germany and a number she has completed here. They contain sand collected from places like Egypt, Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Europe and New Zealand.
Ruthild said since she arrived in New Zealand she had been collecting sand and was "astonished" to find "violet pink shells and black iron sands".
"I have had black sand before, collected in Germany from a sand-blasting machine, but not the colour you find in Raglan. It is very interesting, especially the way it catches the light, and the shells are of beautiful colours and shapes I have never seen before.
"Making pictures using sand from different countries is a fascinating way to work. There are so many different colours ... and putting them together on one canvas is one way to
bring the world together in a peaceful way."
Both Ruthild and Lynette said their experiences in each other's homelands with the different textures, colours, shapes, forms and light had influenced their art and palettes.
Wolfsburg Meets Waikato, October 24-28, Cambridge Town Hall, in the Victoria Room from 10 am daily.
UNIVERSAL: Exchange artist, German Ruthild Tillmann (L)
and Cambridge artist Lynette Murray. PICTURE: Sarah Brook