Rodney Hamel: Tunnel Beach

Tunnel Beach is one of Dunedin’s favourite coastal destinations. Thirty-metre-high sandstone cliffs create a dramatic coastline with sea-stacks, an arch and narrow coves with sandy beaches. In these paintings Rodney has explored the ocean-formed shapes and colours of this coastline.

The access to Tunnel Beach is not easy, a steep walkway takes you down (and back up again). Undeterred, Rodney did the working drawings for most of these paintings onsite. As usual in Rodney’s work, the viewpoint is critical. Google images became a useful tool when seeking to view the land from a different vantage point.

The few figures in these works face away from us; seen from behind we see what they see, the landscape within and beyond the edges of the painting.

Please join us for Rodney's artist-talk: Friday 13th August 1pm.