Flora & Fauna Inspires This Local Artist

Jane Kennington is a local based artist living in Whanganui amongst beautiful and inspiring surroundings, with many trees, birds and gardens; these manifest through into her making.  Her work is very feminine, with a lot of her pieces featuring illustrations of flora and fauna, as well as delicate drawings of women.

The female form in her work talks about friendships and loss.  Emma from Tree likes to imagine the birds on her vases and cups having conversations with each other in the way they are displayed in the gallery.
​
Jane says she is fascinated by plants, the quirky way they grow and take natural form, as well as the delicate way that water droplets sit on the leaves and twiggy bushes.  She likes the way plants change and become more intriguing as the plant dries.  These ideas have come through in her latest works, viewed by Emma this month, who got a sneaky peek in her studio!

Jane holds up a Ramarama leaf, and talks about how these plants native to NZ are under threat from myrtle rust, and have been classified as threatened as a precautionary measure.​

Jane mentions she has a background in a Diploma in Visual Arts majoring in sculpture and wood from Nelson, as you can see in the sculptural way she constructs her work.  Showing process in making is important to Jane, you can see the organic way she carves the clay like a chisel to wood from a leather hard solid block, reducing it until the clay takes form and then hollows it out for the firing.  All her pieces are one offs and you can see the movement of the artist's fingers, or the use of tools to form the object.

Jane says that drawing and mark making is very important to her process of examination and discovery.  She likes to make pieces that people can use everyday because she believes it to be very satisfying to use a handmade object.

Jane's ceramics are exclusive to the Tree Gallery and we are excited to bring them to you!