BUNT opens Sat 9 June and runs until Sun 17 June in conjunction with Big Green week and features the work of over 60 illustrators. Click here for more info.
Myths and Legends opens Sun 10 June at the Showroom on College Green with a special afternoon preview 2-5pm (Pimms and cake!). Over 20 illustrators present their unique takes on myths and legends from around the world, taking you to a bygone world populated by mythical creatures, heroic beings and wondrous places. Expect to discover the ancient, the alarming and the magnificent. Click here for details and to preview some of the fantastic pieces on display.
I really enjoyed creating my piece for the Myths and Legends show. Ever since travelling in New Zealand a couple of years ago I've wanted to produce a series of images based on Maori legends I heard while travelling, which often feature gods, warriors, heroes and tales of love lost. Many of the stories are rooted in the extraordinary landscape, which is one of the most varied in the world, positioned as it is on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' and comprising mountains, volcanoes, beautiful coastline, glaciers, boiling hot pools and lush subtropical rainforest. My piece for the exhibition is based on the story 'Tears of the Avalanche Girl', or 'Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere' in Maori. It tells the story of Hinehukatere, a snow maiden who fell in love with a mortal man and persuaded to climb the mountains with her to ask the gods to make him a snow being like her, so they could be together. They climbed too high and he fell to his death, forever lost to her. She now wanders the mountains alone and her tears form the glacier known today as Franz Josef.
In my image I've included some of the swirl patterns prevalent in Maori art and culture. Here they are used to depict both the impending stormy skies and the fern leaves of the rainforest in the valley below the glacier - known as 'koru' and symbolising new life, growth, strength and fertility.
