The Devonport Flagstaff Page 6
May 20, 2016
Cheltenham artist paints a grim picture of global warming In her first exhibition in 16 years, Margaret Lawlor-Bartlett mostly sees red. What Will We Leave Them? is a show about global warming. “Red is the colour of heat and the colour of danger. The earth shouldn’t be red. It should be green,” the artist says. Local landscapes, including North Head and Rangitoto, feature prominently, as does the rising water around them and the figures in it. “I worked it all out. By 2095, sea levels will be five metres up,” she says. Lawlor-Bartlett has lived by Cheltenham Beach for the last 30 years, with architect husband Peter Bartlett. The enthusiastic sea swimmer reckons global warming can be experienced first-hand on her doorstep. “I literally feel the earth warming up here. I went swimming this morning, and the water – it’s so warm and rising. I have just planted some grasses at the front of our house to keep the bank from getting washed away any further,” she says. Lawlor-Bartlett has a history of protest art. In 1966, she was part of an anti-Vietnam War show in Henderson. In 1979, she became a founding member of the feminist Association of Women Artists. She was also also involved in Visual Artists Against Nuclear Arms, the group that created the large-scale peace mural on the corner of Karangahape and Ponsonby Roads. Lawlor-Bartlett later
organised a second anti-nuclear art project on North Head. The mother of six and grandmother of three says she wants to leave the planet in good shape for her offspring. “I am not moving on before I’ve cleaned up this mess. And the kids are helping me,” she says. Lawlor-Bartlett looks after her Devonport grandchildren Mila (10) and Arlo (8) every Thursday. Her other grand-daughter, Wren (11) lives in Dunedin. “Mila and Arlo helped me plant the beach grasses and they also feature in a painting going into the show. They are pulling on ropes that are attached to the sun, like Maui. They want to control it and use its energy,” she says. “They are the people who will ask us why we left them the world like this. The least we can do is find a possible solution for them, using our scientific and artistic minds to find ways around the warming or to delay it. We can use this negative space to make something positive happen for our children and grandchildren, because mine tell me they don’t want the tsunamis to arrive and the water coming into the house.” Lawlor-Bartlett says she still has another show in her after this. “And then it must be time for a retrospective, because my career is 60 years long.” She often puts in long hours of nocturnal
Eye on the future... Margaret Lawlor-Bartlett has a history of protest art painting. “I am a night owl. There are so many things to do during the day. I also like to walk every day and I often go up North Head in the dark, sometimes as late as 2 am,” she says. • What Will We Leave them? runs at Parnell Gallery from June 14-28.
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