Coral Harnett’s Oil Painting Exhibition at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery – “Bloom from the Inside Out”
Christchurch artist Coral Harnett’s oil painting exhibition “Bloom from the inside out” ceremoniously opened on 26th January at 4:30pm inside the New Zealand Fo Guan Yuan Art Gallery 1. The ceremony was attended by Coral Harnett, her parents, 20 friends and relatives, and 50 audiences. Gallery Curator Venerable Abbess Manshin, local Botany MP Mr Jami-Lee Ross, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office secretary Mr Zhi Jian Zhou, Uxbridge Creative Centre Curator Emma Topping, BLIA North Island Advisor Peter Yong, BLIA South Island President Si Xian Li, and BLIA North Island ex-president Mrs Ling Zhang attended the inauguration ribbon cutting.
Abbess Manshin welcomed all the guests who came out to support Coral’s new exhibition. It is hoped that everyone can find emotional resonance and strength from these painting. The Abbess praised and wishes that Coral will continue to increase her confidence and continue to create art with dedication, thus allowing the path of her future to be filled with brightness. VIPs on stage congratulated the artist and expressed that they can feel her kindness, passion and courage. Coral’s work exudes affection from the ordinary and possesses a resilient passion from within loneliness. Economic & Cultural Office secretary Mr Zhi Jian Zhou stated that he will especially invite his superior Mr Le Chun Ding to come and be awed by this “Indoor Cherry Blossoms” exhibition.
This exhibition centres on Cherry Blossoms from Fo Guang Shan North Island, willows and pines. The exchange of light and shadow were vividly portrayed, the Cherry Blossom’s lively beauty and vitality have also been clearly depicted. Coral thanked Fo Guang Yuan Gallery for giving her a stage to shine, and expressed that every piece marked her emotional journey; as the Canterbury earthquakes have often made her depressed and lose hope, yet after all her work were sold during the last South Island exhibition, she managed to regain confidence and emerged from bewilderment and darkness. After finding this nourishment for her spirit, she hopes that her art can bring positive energy to the audiences. Lastly, she shared a quote from Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s “Hsing Yun’s Ch’an Talks” that goes “Without a bone-chilling freeze, how could plum blossoms have such great fragrance?”
Coral Harnett’s exhibition will be held between 26th Jan – 16th March. All are welcomed.