West Melton 14-year-old Henry Turner is exhibiting 16 artworks inspired by an adventure to the remote sub-Antarctic Islands.
His trip to the islands, 700km southeast of New Zealand, was paid for by an Enderby Trust Scholarship. Normally restricted to artists over 18 years of age, an exception was made for Henry to apply.
The trip comprised of 18 days at sea and visits to the Auckland, Enderby, Macquarie and Campbell Islands.
The islands are internationally recognised for their significance as a breeding site for several species of seabirds.
“It was utterly, utterly remarkable,” said Henry. “A hundred or less hectares of land among the wildest oceans on the planet.”
He was most inspired by “dark, wet, windy, wild, remote areas” and the “profusion of bird life” around the islands.
Henry, a year 10 pupil at Burnside High School, strived “to attain new levels of realism and details in pictures”. He wanted his art to “add something of my personality and to speak about what I feel about the bird or subject”.
Selwyn Gallery volunteer Diana Reid said Henry had sold many of his works on display, which was “quite phenomenal”.
Henry also sold cards and T-shirts she said, and used the money to buy rat and stoat traps to protect birds. The exhibition titled “flights of fancy” will continue until March 27.
Cally Burke, from Heritage Expeditions, was on the boat with Henry. She said he stood out as a “remarkably mature young man”.
His mother, Suzanne Pickford, said: “He has never been told how to achieve a mood or a look, he just knows what he wants and can wield the pencil or pastel to get it.”
_Krysia Krawczyk for The Press
