Writing on the Wall: Films by Bridget Sutherland

Abstract

Combining words with images for narrative purposes dominates work by some of New Zealand's most important contemporary painters, just as their use of landscape to comment on New Zealand rather than merely to glorify its spectacular beauty also distinguishes the work of modern era New Zealand painters from their predecessors.

In her films, The Red Wheelbarrow (1984) and Divided Attention (1990-93), Bridget Sutherland uses words on surfaces in unexpected ways. This short paper examines Sutherland's two films within their context of New Zea-land art and culture, as well as their relation to other arts.