MICHAEL HIGHT<\/strong>, born 1961 Stratford<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hight graduated B.Soc.Sc from the University of Wellington in 1982. He is a self-taught artist who has been painting since the age of 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 1990s, Hight\u2019s focus was on abstract series of work which he enjoyed for their element of chance, and the subsequent uncertainty of outcome. These series \u2013 Heartland Trinkets (1992-93), In Trust (1995) and Seven Rivers (1995) \u2013 fused images and materials found at particular places he had visited, in an attempt to reproduce a sense of those places. In \u2018Four Strong Winds\u2019 (1996), Hight wanted to create works about rivers using as his starting point Bernini\u2019s \u2018Four Rivers\u2019 Fountain in Rome. Again, he used found materials, this time from Italy, England and France, to make \u2018portraits\u2019 of images and forms from different places there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His 1998 exhibition, Maungakakaramea, dealt with places and landmarks from his childhood days in Kawerau and Rotorua, and explored the middle line between ornamental, motif-based, non-Western art and the individualism and expressionistic tendency of western art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Seven Rivers\u2019 (1995) heralded the beginning of Hight\u2019s interest in bee hives and consisted of abstract representations of hives using materials as diverse as wax strips, resin, raw canvas and oil paints. Since the late 1990s, he has painted realist series of hives set in dramatic New Zealand landscapes and, in the early 2000\u2019s his imagery has extended to include derelict railway carriages, buildings and cars, and still life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GALLERIES<\/strong>
Milford Galleries, Dunedin
<\/a>John Leech Gallery, Auckland<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong>
Headlands: Thinking Through New Zealand Art (catalogue), essay by Tina Barton, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1992.
Art New Zealand 77, \u2018Walking in the World: Michael Hight\u2019s trust in place\u2019, Paula Green, 1995.
Contemporary New Zealand Art 2, Elizabeth Caughey & John Gow, David Bateman Ltd, 1999.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MICHAEL HIGHT, born 1961 Stratford Hight graduated B.Soc.Sc from the University of Wellington in 1982. He is a self-taught artist who has been painting since the age of 14. During the 1990s, Hight\u2019s focus was on abstract series of work which he enjoyed for their element of chance, and the subsequent uncertainty of outcome. These … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"yoast_head":"\n