Hold on to Peace - Image courtesy Ira Mitchell-Kirk

Hold on to Peace - Image courtesy Ira Mitchell-Kirk

Friday 14 January 2011

Fragments of Memory


Lisa Taylor-King used family photographs and her own memories of Italy as the inspiration for her works for Cassino.

Lisa writes: My grandfather was Harry Domimico Sandri. He was born en route as his family moved from Trento to New Zealand. He later returned to Italy with the New Zealand Army Corps and fought at Cassino and Trieste. I often wonder how strange this "homecoming" was for him.

Harry married my grandmother after the war. Though he never talked about the war, we have recently rediscovered one small suitcase filled with photographs of his time in the Solomon Islands, Egypt, and Italy, and other mementoes. His war medals arrived separately in a little tin tobacco box. These half-lost relics smell like old things left behind, long stored away and forgotten.

Through my paintings for this show I have tried to reflect and understand just a little of this man's story. I have chosen to present some montages of images and medals from my grandfather's collection in honour of him. I have also selected two abstract landscapes that have their own sense of peace, freedom and space. They reflect a little bit of New Zealand and my impression of the Italian landscape. They are both but neither; instead they are the beauty of our natural environment, a bond shared by us all which will remain forever.


The second part of Lisa's contribution to Legato invokes a feeling of calm, allowing the viewer a space for quiet contemplation.

The Breath of Another Sunrise

Light Over the Horizon

At Peace
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