Pick of the Week: 'Road to the Mountains' by Dhyana Muir

This week's Pick of the Week is 'Road to the Mountains' by Dhyana Muir! On show at our Tairua gallery, 'Road to the Mountains' achieves a striking sense of depth while retaining a simplicity and balance in its composition. 
 

Of this work, Dhyana says: 'Road to the Mountains is an abstract interpretation about the drive to the snow, the view through the windscreen, the colours and texture of the endless road beneath. I remember the Winter school holidays trips to Taupo from Auckland. The crisp cool air, the anticipation of that first appearance of snow as we looked out from the back seat. The pure whiteness against the charcoal and grey tones of the roadside.'
 

Detail

Often concerned with memory, feeling and spirituality in her practice, Dhyana subverts these intangible elements through her expressive, gestural painting style. Capturing a fleeting moment, she cements a pivotal memory - archiving for herself, and inviting the viewer to share in her experience. Her colours are as significant symbolically as well as documentary: crisp whites referencing the snow suggest purity or new beginnings, while the immersive shades of blues, greens and greys of the landscape and roadside can be seen to suggest sincerity, renewal and balance. 
 

Detail

Deceptive in its simplicity, there are more layers than meets the eye in 'Road to the Mountains'. We are reminded of the way the sunlight streaks through windows on a clear sky day, in the way lines and angles intersect each other across the composition. On working her paints and mediums, Dhyana tells, 'I used a variety of layering techniques to create a depth and texture, and then a smooth finish reminiscent of the glass.' She achieves an compelling binary with positive and negative space; making our gaze flit back and forth, examining the relationship between foreground of the car window, and background of the landscape and mountains.  

Commanding in its large scale, Dhyana's work generates a sense of awe not unlike the feeling one experiences when arriving at the snow-capped mountains in the Winter. See 'Road to the Mountains' at our Tairua gallery now! 

Interested in enquiring about Dhyana Muir's work? Contact us here! 
 

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