LION & TIGER MEET MEGATRON - The Work of Lesley Knight

Article by: Anna Hollings - 1 October 2023

At first glance the work of Lesley Knight is curious, charming and slightly odd. It invites a deeper look however, drawing us into her strange world of unease. Delving into the complex layers of the paintings, these dark themes become more evident.
Lion and Tiger Meet Megatron, the title piece of the exhibition of seven selected works, is a folk-naive style painting of children’s toys arranged like characters on a stage.
It looks innocent enough, but the figures, especially the oversized Megatron, could be sinister and threatening. Are they going to fight? Or are they long lost friends? Is Lion roaring or saying hello? The clever way the figures inhabit a decontextualised landscape leave much to the imagination.
Megatron is not just a child’s toy, as it turns out. It is also a highly symbolic archetype, and a character embedded in our culture.
Another centre-piece of the show State of Emergency, is larger work that also recycles an existing painting to startling effect. Two tiny figures; a woman seated with an enormous black dog, a man, standing holding a cat, seem lost in the swirling, chaotic landscape. They are overwhelmed by it, yet stoically they wait beside their strange shelter, looking like refugees in a war zone.

Waiting for what? For whom? Their faces are daubs of thick paint, yet their expression and demeanour is one of concern, of worry and portent. Something awful is going to happen, or has happened.

We are drawn to their plight, in the same way we would be for characters in a book, a play or a film. Ms Knight’s surrealist approach to using narrative, contrast and de-contextualising to create strange dreamscapes, is compelling.

Infused with fin de siècle—a sort of sophisticated despair, this work juxtaposes post-modern angst with Victorian melodrama. Even the pallet is muted, muddy looking. This is intentional, the artist says. The drabness is disturbing and grim, the feeling of wrongness is emphatic. Ms Knight says the way the images point to imminent catastrophe represents the driving force in her work, and her way of dealing with the fears, insecurities and uncertainties of world events.

“Nowadays we have a very different world from the one we grew up in,” she says, “Nothing makes sense anymore.”
However this is neither political work, nor a social commentary. This is imagery that captures what words cannot adequately articulate. Ms Knight believes it is the role of the artist to awaken us, to inspire us to see things differently. To be provocative. She asks us to peer beneath the decorative surface of her paintings, (of art and of life). To be curious, engaged and connected. To become aware of hidden possibilities.

franchise with its dark themes of war, terrorism and genocide.
Megatron is the main antagonist of the Transformers film. He is also the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a faction of sentient, war-mongering robotic lifeforms that seek to conquer their home planet.
These themes may resonate with some people.

Lesley Knight has a fine arts degree from Ilam University in Canterbury, and a masters degree in Philosophy and Cultural Studies. She works in a variety of mediums such as tapestry and found objects (assemblage). A full time artist and mother, Lesley moved to Greymouth over a year ago, and is renovating her hundred-year-old bungalow. In the long term she would like to see a more robust arts ecosystem, where artists are supported and appreciated.
“We are very fortunate to have the Left Bank Gallery here in Greymouth,” she says, “It is a regional Gallery with museum status, that encourages diversity and engagement.”

Lesley Knight was a 2021 finalist in the Cleveland National Award for her work Picnic at the Playground, and her work Utopia was also a finalist in the
2023 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award.

Lion & Tiger Meet Megatron is showing from 29 August to 23 September 2023 At the Left Bank Art Gallery, Greymouth.

2022 Winter Friends Show - Puanga Matariki

The mid-winter members show for 2022 - 30th May - 25th June - will end on the first ever public holiday for Matariki. On this side of the island we call it Puanga. Puanga is the star Rigel and is the brightest star in the Orion constellation. Matariki is seen below Puanga and to the left of Tautoru (the three stars of Orion’s Belt) in the late autumn and early winter night sky. On this side of the island we see Puanga easier than the Matariki constellation.

The themes at this special time are as pictured above...
reflection, preparation, learning and celebration.
Please let this be your guide for your submission/s to the exhibition.

- We need your work by 27th May.
- It needs to be new original work which we haven’t seen before.
- A couple of works is fine, but we may not hang them all.
- They need to be ready for hanging or display
- Open to all members, all ages, all abilities, all media. Not a member? Sign up! It’s only $20 a year.
- Works can be for sale or NFS (not for sale)
- There is no entry fee but we will take 38% commission if your work sells.

Anna Hollings - Paintings 2006-2013

Artist Bio:

Birthdate: 1963
Birthplace: Wellington, New Zealand

Anna painted prolifically from the early 1990’s in a variety of styles; from surrealist, post-modern and expressionist, figurative through to landscapes inspired by the early NZ moderns such as Woollaston, Rita Angus, Edith Collier, Frances Hodgkins.

She participated in the gallery circuit in Auckland from the late 90’s to early 2000’s, and although she was briefly successful, she identified more strongly with outsider art. As a self-taught artist she was more interested in art-as-therapy and experimenting across a range of styles and media.

She abandoned the art world altogether and moved to the West Coast in 2009 where she worked with Alison Hale in Reefton for a short time, experimenting with landscape, abstraction and collage. She currently lives in Kumara.

This body of work is a survey of this West Coast period, comprising un-exhibited work from the artist's collection.