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In a new collection of landscapes, Peter Siddell gives audiences the chance to journey through his New Zealand, a dreamlike topography brought into sharp focus by the artist's meticulous rendering. Peter Siddell: Landscape, opening at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu on Friday 10 October, is an exhibition of 20 paintings, depicting New Zealand landmarks from Northland to Fiordland. The exhibition, organised and toured by Auckland's Artis Gallery, is part of a national tour. A self-taught painter, Peter Siddell was born in Auckland in 1935. Having trained and worked as both an electrician and a teacher, Peter Siddell has been a full-time artist for more than 30 years. Throughout the artist's career, his recollection of places and scenes has informed his choice of subject - evident in the villas, streets and roads portrayed in his studies of Auckland. This latest collection marks a return to the familiar landscapes of regional New Zealand and Siddell's contemporary interpretations of the dramatic countryside he first visited as keen climber and tramper. "A few years ago, I took my daughter and new son-in-law on a tour of New Zealand. It was his first trip to the country from the USA and we drove from Invercargill to Auckland in ten days." says Peter Siddell. "We had perfect weather and the landscape was utterly amazing. It was unlike any journey I'd taken through New Zealand before." "After travelling through this landscape, I decided I should do some larger works and, as they came together, I felt it would be a good idea to tour them." Peter Siddell describes his favourite places throughout the country as those occupied by friends or characterised by experiences. His landscapes, however, remain deserted. "I like to leave the narrative as open as possible. Figures make a work more specific." "I don't expect anyone else to interpret my work in the same way as I do. I like to leave it to the viewer to provide their own narrative." Peter Siddell says the Landscape series is the closest he has come to visual accuracy. "Painting is an exercise in controlled disappointment," says Peter Siddell "With every mark you make on the paper, you begin to make compromises. Through the act of painting, the work gets further and further away from the original idea." "In the end, a painting may be a far better work than what you would have got if you were able to capture that idea but there is still that sense of disappointment." "That's what keeps you going - that the next one may be the perfect painting. It's like hunting, searching for the one that got away."
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