It’s been the oddest time of late. And yet not entirely unexpectedly odd. Collectively, we on Earth have brought ourselves to a strange and delicate state. I’ve been dealing with upswells of anxiety and I mention this because I suspect I’m not alone in it. While I try to examine myself for local causes, I wonder if I’m not also ‘catching the wave’ of our shared uncertainty: what is dying, and what will be born?

I’ve noticed that this particular malaise responds better to rich interchange than to prolonged introspection. And yesterday, my antidote: these floating vessels, boats beneath the ice. Neither full nor empty, they are held, turned, lifted, lowered, and drifted through veils of light and dark — utterly responsive to the element in which they find themselves.

Claire Beynon and Kate Alterio’s collaborative art and jewelery exhibition, ALCHEMY, runs for another week at The Artist’s Room here in Dunedin. Recalling the excited buzz of opening day, I was grateful to find myself alone this time. Within the work itself, many portals invite entry, as do the tiny painted brooch- and pendant-scapes inside each of which a world awaits. Spokes, shafts or upwellings of light draw the eye to previously unobserved vistas; pairs or collections of figures entice the viewer to join their quiet talks and explorations…

…and the boats: today in silent, calming rise and fall, the boats and I are breathing.