Pitch

Pitch:

In Music: the highness or lowness of a note in relation to other notes.

In a Nautical sense: to plunge with alternate fall and rise of bow and stern, as a ship.

Or, as a noun: turpentine, paint, resins and tars carried aboard wooden ships for maintenance tasks such as waterproofing.

In this tiny painting, a ship's hold is full of treasure. The vessel glides past the female figurehead of another ship which heads toward a suggested vision of tropical islands. Small, fragments of shells play notes from a hymn from the 19th century - one that is no longer sung. But was once sung in 4/4 time.

The entire piece is held together by thick black lines which suggest the pitch used to caulk wooden ships.

Acrylic on paper, silk and leather, with sand, broken paua shells, garnets, glass beads, pearls, lapis and silver. 32 x 19.5 cm.