Josh’s landscapes often capture the geography of the heart - the places we call ‘ours’ and that define who we are and where we are from. Depictions of the scenes we know and love, that help connect us all through a shared memory of place. Josh believes in the stories that places can tell. The scenes painted become an access point for memories that bring with them the comfort of a familiar face.
In keeping with Josh’s documentation of places and objects we know and love - this new show is a rambling exploration of Auckland’s Cornwall Park, with a particular focus on the woodier residents that call the park home.
10 large landscape paintings featuring some of Josh's favourite trees in Auckland’s Cornwall Park. Well-loved and familiar corners of the park underpinned by our personal and collective memories of a simpler, sunnier time.
There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears in each painting. They take time, and that time matters. For Josh it is about meeting with the painting and working out what is and isn’t working until the connection is right. That’s what makes the process so personal.
We share a snippet of Josh's personal story behind this collection.
"These trees, most of which have looked the same since we first met, are now a source of reassuring familiarity in a time when everything else in the world seems to be changing so quickly.
As a small kid I remember scrambling over the sprawling roots of the Moreton Bay Fig trees, the roots wide and high and bulbous. We would find one to call our own horse and clamber up onto it’s back before slapping it’s flanks and galloping off side-by-side into the distance. Or you could magically disappear by slipping down between the roots into a hidey hole, as confused siblings searched all around you.
One of those MB fig trees was a particular beacon for our family picnics. Especially on Boxing Day when Mum would get up early and call everyone she’d ever met and invite them to bring their Christmas leftovers and come join us for a picnic ‘under the big tree in Cornwall Park.
A few years on again and the trees of Cornwall Park became a place to pash under, or break-up under, or drink rocket-fuel at night with your mates under. A few years after that and my usage of the park and its trees became a little more wholesome again. I found myself watching my own boys ‘discovering’ the parks trees for the first time, and teaching them how to ride their own bikes there."
The entire "A Tree Story" will be available online from 6pm, Friday 14th November & any available works will be able to be purchased online as well, from that time.
