Visions of ZEALANDIA - An art exhibition by Judi Lapsley Miller
Wellington, NZ - Imagine a verdant valley overflowing with native birds and plants because they're protected from introduced
predators; an oasis in a modern city; a chance to reconnect with what we've lost - and you get a glimpse of the
ZEALANDIA Vision. In Judi's exhibition at ZEALANDIA EcoSanctuary, she is presenting work from three series that explore
this vision:
• "Birds of a feather" where the striking and subtle colours of the rare and endangered birds that live at
ZEALANDIA are celebrated in a series of painterly portraits. From the shy kākā kura to the stately tūī, each bird is
already a work of art.
• "Visions of ZEALANDIA" where she illustrates the struggle for wild birds adapting to living in a modern
biophilic city and the vision of taking 500 years to restore the pre-human ecosystem - the length of time it takes for
the forest canopy to recover to maturity.
• "Flights of fancy" where imagination takes over and roles are reversed - what would the curious and intelligent
kākā parrots do in a post-human world?
In her images she exposes her interpretation of the inner world of others – their thoughts and feelings, their hopes and
desires – in a form tangible to the human viewer that she hopes engenders empathy with other living creatures.
For many years Judi has advocated for New Zealand's birds through writing and photography, and she is currently
volunteer convener for both the "Storyteller" and "Kākā nestbox monitoring" teams at ZEALANDIA.
The exhibiton is on for the month of June 2017, with sales supporting ZEALANDIA's conservation work. Two works: the
eponymous “Visions of Zealandia” and “An Urban Jungle”, are exclusive to ZEALANDIA in limited editions of five.
ENDS