Recollections of old Christchurch

Kim Morgan and Nikki Smith launched Vistas Christchurch in May, 2011. Like many others in this city, we were saddened by the loss of our urban heritage and of places dear to us. We wanted to remind people of what they had lost by providing affordable art suitable for homes and workplaces. We hope our selection of prints, gift cards and postcards, depicting past Christchurch scenes, helps in the healing process in our city.

Kim Morgan was born in New Zealand and has always had a strong interest in art and design. During her high school years in Westland she embarked on a correspondence course through the Australian Institute of Commercial Art. A chance request, in 2002, for a work depicting a city nightscape, led to her first cityscape painting. She took inspiration from both a local Christchurch artist's abstract rendering of this topic area and her own commercial art training. This led to a new turn in her painting, reflecting a deep interest in local urban building design, both historical and contemporary.

Kim has always been deeply affected by place and atmosphere. In her portrayal of city themes she has increasingly employed a representational style of painting, combining simplicity of line with clarity of dynamic colour. Her main current influences are mid-twentieth century New Zealand artists such as Evelyn Page and the American artist, Edward Hopper. Kim's evolving style has produced bright, vibrant acrylics.

Kim has exhibited and sold her works in community exhibitions and local galleries. Her work in her new-found subject area was briefly halted by the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. This event gave her an even more intense appreciation of the city's built heritage. In her reappraisal of what has gone, she puts energy into a combined celebration of our architectural heritage, some now lost but some which, with graciousness, survives.