Art New Zealand

Light As

Melissa Macleod The Trappings of Ghosts Ashburton Art Gallery, 7 March–19 April

Stillness, silence and a sense of weightlessness permeate this work by Melissa Macleod. The Trappings of Ghosts, her most recent sculptural installation, bears a perfect title for a murder mystery. Ethereal and haunting, the work itself is hard to lock down. And who are the ghosts, what are their origins and what does the word trapping suggest?

Staged in a creates an invisible wall, a demarcation, cleverly separating the artwork from the corridor area. The corridor itself has been transformed into a viewing platform from which to contemplate and, ultimately, negotiate the work. All white and pristine, the installation suggests some sort of medical experiment, clinical and removed, transported into the gallery from a hospital storage facility for observation and analysis.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Art New Zealand

Art New Zealand2 min read
Contributors
Don Abbott, Deputy Editor of Art New Zealand, is the author of Vivid: The Paul Hartigan Story and Elizabeth Rees: I Paint. Janet Abbott is a writer and researcher whose interests include the work of Cecil and Elizabeth Kelly, and Canterbury art. She
Art New Zealand7 min read
Spring Break Contemporary Art at Christchurch Art Gallery
It is a challenging time for our public art institutions, with galleries required to cater to vast audiences, whilst being judged on how many visitors they can get through the door in order to win funding. Add a culture war to the context of needing
Art New Zealand7 min read
Turning Blue In the Water with Cathy Carter
What can be learnt from water? Cyclone Gabrielle brought its power to bear last year, inscribing the phrase ‘atmospheric rivers’ in our memories. Sea levels are rising, and as part of the Pacific Ocean, with one of the longest coastlines in the world

Related