When They First Heard The News...

Dale Copeland
‘When they first heard the news…’
Assemblage of found objects (China ornaments)
32 x 40 x 15cm
2022

“When they first heard the news? Look at their faces ... the enraptured girl, believing it and loving it, the leaping boy, in for the excitement, the wealthy lad thinking he's quite comfortable anyway, so wondering what's in it for him. And the quiet boy just getting on with his fishing. It's how we react to any news. It depends SO much on our background, our current beliefs, the source of information, our gullibility. Think of all the fake news, the conspiracies, the lies, the stupidities, the split beliefs which currently divide us. Interesting times and interesting reactions.

The Escher-like background to the tableau is a collage I made from a book of beautiful photos by Robert Pilidora of buildings in Havana, Cuba. Many of them partially derelict, but oh, so beautiful.

The small flare of light at the top is from a lens I set into the wood. Where it has been sitting in my studio, the lens focuses a detailed image of the ceiling and skylight. I like it.”

Dale Copeland describes herself as a mathematician-turned-artist. The one time head of a college maths and physics department and freelance computer programmer, Copeland, at the age of forty-three opted for a new lifestyle devoted to art and motherhood. She is now a 6th Dan black belt in Taekwon-Do and is still training regularly. Dale has often been referred to as the back bone of the Taranaki arts community, she is currently the driving force behind the artist collective called Virtual TART which shows their work online through the Virtual TART site www.tart.co.nz. In 2012 Dale was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts. Dale lives at Puniho with painter Paul Hutchinson.