Words, words, words - " From the moment we assign meaning to our first baby sounds we are in the grip of words. We use them to interact with our environment and to make sense of our perceptions. Words, words, words - " From the moment we assign meaning to our first baby sounds we are in the grip of words. We use them to interact with our environment and to make sense of our perceptions.And we soon learn their usefulness as tools to beguile, control or wound. Titirangi artists, Cynthia Smith and Steve Charters, explore these themes in their exhibition, TEXT-UR at the Lopdell House Upstairs Gallery between 24 September and 17 October.

"Cynthia and I met about three years ago at the 'Get Creative' art classes run by Carol Bisset at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall", says Steve. "We found we shared a love of language and the written word. I'd worked overseas as an actor and was feeling my way as a writer, while Cynthia had left behind her law career to begin work as an Adult Literacy tutor. When the idea of a joint-exhibition came up we knew immediately that using 'words' as the theme would give us a common focus."

"The exhibition will explore the use of the written word as a tool for establishing and confirming a sense of identity", says Steve. "It also looks at how language is used to subtly control us or encourage us to conform", says Cynthia. "The title, TEXT-UR, works on several levels. It suggests the actual words in a written or printed piece of text but also refers to the tactile surface or texture of an object. And if you read 'UR' as 'you are' it implies the way that we let words create our self-image or colour our perception of the environment." "An ur-text also means a basic or original text," adds Steve. "Elements of it are taken and re-interpreted to create new versions. It's like a map or blueprint."

Cynthia and Steve are presenting works in both 2D and 3D, in mixed media and with sculptural and interactive elements. Working towards the exhibition, Cynthia has been intrigued with the ways in which the overly formal tone and language of public signage can function to obscure meaning. Meanwhile, Steve has been documenting the way that tagging in West Auckland is often seen on trees and rocks. "It's something of a phenomenon out West", he says. "And of course it feeds in nicely to the idea of text as a passage-marker. The graffiti are like signatures on the landscape reminding passers-by of the taggers' existence."

"It's pretty full-on right now", says Cynthia. As well as preparing for the opening and for an Artists' Tour of the exhibition on 3 October, both artists are involved with preparations for the Titirangi Primary School FunFest and Art Auction on 13 - 14 November. "So if you don't snap up one of our paintings at TEXT-UR, you get another chance later", says Steve. " Note the subtle advertising? More language of coercion."