| JAN NIGRO | |
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| Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” with its illustrations by John Tenniel has charmed readers of all ages since its publication in 1865. His story first told to entertain friends’ children on a picnic has been inspiring to fellow writers, artists, and filmmakers and it and the author Charles Dodgson have been reviewed, critiqued, and researched in every way. Jan Nigro’s Alice, is a young New Zealander in her 30s is travelling overseas. Art Historian, Dr Robin Woodward wrote “Through the intermingling of the two Alices, Jan Nigro presents a visual narrative of the human condition…its hopes, dreams and the reality of it all.” For Nigro’s Alice New Zealand is Wonderland, and in her painting Alice leaving Wonderland, the foreshortening of Alice suggests Alice’s vulnerability as she moves from the known to the unknown. In the series Alice moves from contemplating her journey to the journey and facing choices that awaken her to new thoughts and ideas. As in Carroll’s Alice Nigro’s Alice is accompanied by various animals, some passive and watching, some threatening. Nigro then borrows from Carroll and creates a strong suite of works that are topical and challenging. Confirming as Dr Robin Woodward hsa wriiten, her “place as one New Zealand’s foremost figurative painters.” |
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