Selected Works 2013-2016 by Holly Best for SCAPE Public Art Season 2016

Holly Best Selected Works 2013-2016, dimensions variable. Photos courtesy of the artist.

Holly Best photographed gardens and landscapes left to fend for themselves in the Red Zone of Christchurch. Foliage grew sometimes rampant and unchecked, sometimes gently overrunning shapes resulting from years of tethering and pruning. Many buildings have been demolished, leaving an eerie verdant terrain. This body of work was far from disaster tourism or ‘art about earthquakes’. For Best, the Red Zone is an extension of her domestic environment and the everyday subject matter she is drawn to. She regularly walks the area, often with her young daughter Claudia, sometimes collecting fruit, and taking photographs.