Culture

Curated by Melbourne arts writer Serena Bentley, “Wall of Seahorsel” is a showcase of the most recent works of one of New Zealand’s most respected contemporary photographers. Yvonne Todd is an award-winning artist based in Auckland. She has become well known for her photographs, which utilise the clichés of commercial portraiture to both expose and celebrate the artificial nature of such photography. “Wall of Seahorsel” examines awkwardness and uneasiness by contemplating a series of illogical actions immortalised in Todd’s large-scale photographs. Todd’s background in photography and fine arts degree have allowed her to successfully incorporate her photography into her art in an eclectic way.

This exhibition occupies two opposite walls, enveloping the spacious room it currently inhabits in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The left-hand wall features Todd’s 2009 photographic series of large portraits entitled “Wall of Man”, and the other is her newest collection of large-scale photographs called “Wall of Seahorsel”, from which the exhibition takes its name. “Wall of Man” is a collection of photographs featuring 12 businessmen, who on closer inspection are not as ordinary as first assumed. Todd uses subtle techniques such as missing fingers and excessively bright eyes to add eccentricity and peculiarity to the photographs. The indirect awkwardness of the photographs forces the viewer to attempt to decipher what elements arouse such feelings of strangeness.

This peculiarity is amplified in “Wall of Seahorsel” on the opposite side of the gallery, in which the new series of photographs features costumed occupants of an imagined community. Connections between the subjects are insinuated via a series of senseless bodily positions. The men and women in the photographs explore movement and posture in combination with strategically placed props and costumes, which add to the strange feel of the photos. These absurd stances prompt uneasiness in the viewer and work in conjunction with “Wall of Man”, making that collection feel less unsettling than it did before approaching “Seahorsel”. In “Wall of Man”, the connection between each man is made clear by the uniform way in which they are dressed and positioned. The photographic techniques are varied but consistent, giving a coherent feel to the collection as a whole. These connections are harder to find in “Wall of Seahorsel”, and thus the consistency is found in the illogical actions of its subjects. The beachy elements of each picture – pieces of seaweed, driftwood, light fabrics and other beach materials – also aid in tying the collections together.

“Wall of Seahorsel” is thought-provoking and confusing, frustrating and perplexing. It triggers a sense of restlessness and anxiety, while also allowing space for quiet reflection.