Headwaters: Michael Hight

The fragmented relationships between landscapes, memories and human interventions have been long-standing subjects of exploration for artist Michael Hight. In this new body of work by the self-taught painter, Headwaters, the artist turns his attention to the rivers of the South Island. These rivers, as the exhibition title suggests, act as both literal and metaphorical sources—wellsprings of imagery for his hyperreal and symbolic paintings.

Throughout Hight’s career, specific geographical locations have acted as touchstones within his practice. His dark still-life compositions show locations that are deeply entwined with symbols and objects, many of which were found or acquired near the depicted area. By blending these landscapes with domestic and ornamental objects, as well as tools that carry personal and historic significance, a deeply tactile connection to time and place is felt within Hight’s works.

Hight’s compositions are marked by their discordant scale, a deliberate juxtaposition that invites a more complex perception of the subjects. The viewer is invited to navigate a series of contrasts: exterior and interior, solid and fragile, hard and soft, industrial and domestic. These conflicting elements highlight the sometimes-uneasy relationship between humanity and the land itself. In Headwaters, this theme takes on new resonance. These paintings allude to the weighty history of colonisation, where settlers attempted to measure, harness, manipulate and dominate the land, often using misguided and inappropriate methods. Hight creates visions of mountain silhouettes nestled upon scales as though they exist only for monetary value, trapped behind colonial birdcages, or atop a traditional cake stand, metaphorically ready to feed the masses. In another work, we see stark and bare tree branches poised upon a European-style candelabra; perhaps referencing the deforestation that took place courtesy of colonial arrivals, the trees are shown here literally held up on a pedestal yet also sitting where candles should be placed, ready to go up in flames and be destroyed. These works speak to Hight’s ongoing fascination with the New Zealand landscape along with a deepening exploration of the complexities of human intervention—how we attempt to weigh and ultimately reconcile our presence within a land that remains, at its core, untameable.