My work focuses on the natural world around me and reflects my strong affinity with this awe inspiring world.
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Inspired by Nature
I am passionate about the natural world around me. My work reflects my strong conservational and ecological ties with nature. This deep love and connection to the environment was formed growing up, spending weekends and holidays in the natural environment exploring and fossicking around different areas of the South Island.
Art and Nature
There is always an element of excitement and surprise with creative pursuits, and for me being able to combine my love of the natural world and my art has been a symbiotic relationship. It allows me to use my artwork to raise awareness of the unique and awe inspiring beauty of the landscape, the many endemic species of flora and fauna, plus the fragility of the ecological systems within and the role each of us can have in nurturing, protecting and preserving our world.
This fragile balance within eco systems and what happens when an imbalance occurs, (especially through habitat destruction, predation and or as a result of negative human interaction), are some of the main concerns expressed within my work.
Field Work
I work artistically in the field as much as I can, including in many of the more remote corners of New Zealand; the Subantarctic islands (as I did for my Master of Fine Arts degree), Rakiura/ Stewart Island, Fiordland and the South Island high country.
The Department of Conservation has also provided a number of opportunities, including the Tamatea – Art and conservation in Dusky Sound Exhibition.
Back in my Studio in Sumner, Christchurch, my field work provides the inspiration for my art, which I then develop further using various mediums including printmaking and painting.
Art School
In 1993 I graduated from the Otago Polytechnic School of Art with a Diploma of Fine Arts with Honours. In 1995 I undertook a Graduate Diploma in Plant and Wildlife Illustration at the University of Newcastle, Australia. In 2000 I completed my Master of Fine Arts at Otago School of Art.
Awards and Scholarships
I have been fortunate to receive a number of scholarships and awards, including the Margaret Senior Wildlife Scholarship and the William Fletcher Trust Scholarship (1995). In 1999 I was awarded a Southland Art Foundation Artist in Residence and in 2000 the inaugural William Hodges Fellow.
Exhibitions and Commissions
Since 1992 I have exhibited extensively and completed a number of large-scale commissions for the Otago Museum, The Nelson Provincial Museum/ Pupuri Taonga o Te Tai Ao and the Department of Conservation/ Te Papa Atawhai – Aoraki/ Mount Cook Visitors Centre. My work is held in many private and public collections throughout the country.
Since 2000 I have worked full time as an artist. I live in Sumner, Christchurch, near the beach with my husband and two dogs.