Heather Straka’s photographs, made at the very south of New Zealand’s South Island during the William Hodges Residency in Invercargill, toy with the stereotypical notion of huntin’-shootin’-fishin’ Southern Man.
Questioning notions of masculinity, sexuality and realism Straka layers a Riefenstahl-esque sensibility onto meticulously staged tableaux of handsome ‘hunters’ with their ‘kill’.
Roberta Thornley’s photographs, like those of Straka, are meticulously constructed. With chiaroscuro lighting effects and allusions to antique sculpture her works are rich with narrative possibility and have been described as having ‘a silent stillness’.
This filmic quality is emphasised in Thornley’s most recent series by the theatrically draped curtains that are integral to each image. As she explains, “ … my moment sits on the fringe between theatre and reality; you can’t read the backwards and forwards of it.”
Roberta Thornley is the recipient of the 2015 Tylee Cottage Residency, Whanganui
Heather Straka appears courtesy of Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
Photography: Kallan MacLeod
ROBERTA THORNLEY & HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
Roberta Thornley
Untitled (Pose 3)
2014
Pigment photograph mounted on aluminium
648mm H x 948mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
ROBERTA THORNLEY & HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
ROBERTA THORNLEY & HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
ROBERTA THORNLEY & HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
HEATHER STRAKA
The Shield
2012
C-type photograph
930mm H x 1420mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
The Missing Link
2012
C-type photograph
800mm H x 1250mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
HEATHER STRAKA
Died of Natural Causes
2012
C-type photograph
960mm H x 1320mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
ROBERTA THORNLEY & HEATHER STRAKA
Boys Don't Cry
March 2014
Installation View
Roberta Thornley
Untitled (Pose 3)
2014
pigment photograph mounted on aluminium
600mm H x 900mm W
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
Roberta Thornley
Untitled (Pose 1)
2014
Pigment photograph mounted on aluminium
780mm H x 520mm W
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
Roberta Thornley
Untitled (Pose 2)
2014
pigment photograph mounted on aluminium
780mm H x 520mm W
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
Roberta Thornley
Untitled (Cot)
2014
pigment photograph mounted on aluminium
780mm H x 520mm W
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
Stalker II
2012
C-type photograph
1090mm H x 850mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
Stalker I
2012
C-type photograph
1090mm H x 850mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
The Shield
2012
C-type photograph
930mm H x 1420mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
Teamwork
2012
C-type photograph
1310mm H x 2450mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
The Escort
2012
C-type photograph
960mm H x 1320mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
Died of Natural Causes
2012
C-type photograph
960mm H x 1320mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP
HEATHER STRAKA
The Missing Link
2012
C-type photograph
800mm H x 1250mm W (frame)
Edition: 5 + 2 AP