Holtwaye ArtSpace is fast becoming a regular destination for me. Since its launch in June by WayneNZ and Holter Rez, it has been the home of a series of eye-catching exhibits both in the main gallery space – beautifully designed by Waynenz – at ground level, and more recently in the air over it.

Joining How’s the Water? by Eupalinos Ugajin, which appeared above the gallery in September, is a new skyborne installation by Waynenz. Entitled Art in a Box. It’s a couple of wonderfully whimsical pieces which reflect the artist’s playful side; both are, as the name implies, pieces of art created in two giant cardboard boxes.

The first features a woodland scene, called Playful Dweller. This comprises woodland images covering the inside surfaces of a box, together with a 3D element of shrubs and ferns, with rabbits playing around a fallen branch. Two trees grow from boxes placed on either side of the main scene, while the picture at the back of the box features Waynez himself, blowing bubbles, which form a further 3D element in the scene as they float overhead. Touch some of these, and you’ll find yourself posed within them, becoming part of the piece. Or if you prefer, you can sit at the little tea-table, bedecked with flowers and ferns, and around which butterflies circle and fireflies drift.

The second piece is Boxed Clouds and features a painted sky scene through which flies a Godlike Waynenz. Floating within the confines of the box are a number of cubic clouds, rotating slowly and blending perfectly with the 2D cube clouds floating beneath the image of Waynenz to create a feeling of depth to the piece. This item is also interactive – touch the cubes and you’ll find yourself floating among them.

Art in a Box opened on October 4th with tea party, the remnants of which form a third display as Wild Things playing cards fall from another giant box, each one featuring an image of an avatar (friends of Waynenz and Holter, I presume), with a house of cards standing before it, the checkerboard floor under them forming the perfect transitional element between Boxed Clouds and Playful Dweller.

All told, a delightful installation.

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