Major art exhibition at Kaikoura to include an earthquake-dedicated work

A major art exhibition including a work dedicated to the Christchurch earthquake has opened in Kaikoura.

The works are by noted international artist Ruth Stirnimann who is now based in Kaikoura and can be seen at the new Passione restaurant which has just opened in the popular seaside village.

One of the 13 works in the exhibition is called Earth-Grid 4 which is about the Christchurch earthquakes. An even bigger piece, Compassion, was unfortunately damaged beyond repair in an exhibition in Wellington last year.

Stirnimann has spent much of the last 18 months in exhibitions not just in New Zealand but also Buenos Aires, Sydney, New York and Switzerland.

Her painting style is in two complementing forms – geometric and abstract - and they are provide healing and transforming qualities. Atlantis is a painting that is a major healing process for a friend of hers and she hopes will help others in remembering Atlantian wisdom.

``All the works do something to everyone who engages in them. They trigger different aspects in the viewer. They all support balance, joy, peace, awareness. They all have emotional, mental, physical and spiritual influence,’’ Stirnimann said today.

``Trigon 12 and 13 are like a geometric expression of yin and yang together they are an expression of uniting polarities in a playful way. They support the balance of our own female and male energies innate in every individual and provide a deeper understanding of them.

``My exhibition at Passione is not just a coming home event for me, but also for my works.

I feel this year needs a lot of stillness. So I have decided to `come home’, and be more contemplative and only exhibit within New Zealand this year and in doing so I have rejected international offers.’’

Stirnimann’s works are colourful and full of energy and the exhibition creates a peaceful, relaxed but stimulating atmosphere at Passione, an authentic Italian restaurant which opened two weeks ago.

Her works are about communicating with people and they can trigger stillness, harmony, joy, health and an expanded consciousness. People have been even standing in front of the works for a long time, feeling intrigued by and attracted to them.

She will have another exhibition at her studio later this year which will also include digitised canvas prints and outdoor aluminium composite prints.

``I am putting aluminium pieces along my driveway to express welcoming energy to people and I will have them around my plants as I like to see, how they affect the growth. With what I know about energy and vibration, healing and balancing, it is a fascinating project.