Holly Thomas is a Wellington based painter whose work showcases a love for colour and mark making.  She lets her paintings evolve spontaneously from her materials, allowing free-forming unique compositions where no two works are ever the same.

Her paintings often hold a sense of conflict and tension created through her use of bold and sometimes mis-matched colours contrasted with texture, line and mark.

These contrasting elements creating dynamic and striking designs which engage the eye.
In speaking of her work, she describes her paintings as ‘specimens’, the term being a reflection of the character and personality her marks hold. These characters are often presented to the viewer on a flat backdrop deviod of all detail, as if to draw attention to the life on the canvas.

Holly comes from a fine arts background in Nelson and has studied creative process and materiality through The Learning Connexion in Wellington. She has also traveled extensively in recent years, most recently driving across the USA from Los Angeles to New York on America’s oldest route, a journey which she says inspired a new vision and sense of space in her work. She has exhibited nationwide as well as undertaken private commissions.

“I’ve been everywhere, still I’m standing tall
I’ve seen a million faces
And I’ve rocked them all.”
- Bon Jovi

“For long you live and high you fly,
And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry,
And all you touch and all you see,
Is all your life will ever be”
- Pink Floyd

“A wop bop a lu bop a lop bam boom”
- Little Richard

“Colour has got me.  I no longer need to chase it.  It has got me forever.  I know it.  That is the meaning of this happy hour.” Paul Klee

Fuelled by her physical and emotional environment, colour – its vibrancy, and how each plays against the other – is the underlying foundation and the ultimate driving force behind all of Kathy’s work.

Moving from Whangarei to Perth, Australia, when she was a teenager, Kathy graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (Hons) in 1998.  After completing her degree, Kathy headed abroad for six years, travelling and working in Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom.  She took a break from painting during that time and directed her creative energies into running a clothing business, in which she designed, made and sold men’s and women’s clothing, as well as co-writing and solely illustrating three published travel books.

Kathy returned to New Zealand and to painting five years ago.  Since then, she has developed her practice, creating a diverse and accessible body of work.  Enjoying the breadth of interpretation that abstraction brings, Kathy predominately works in this way, producing contemporary oil paintings on canvas.  Working intuitively, Kathy starts with a rough composition, a mood, or a single colour.  From there, the painting is allowed to unfold, travelling in unanticipated directions and creating different hues, tones and dimensions.

Kathy has exhibited in Australia and New Zealand and most recently, was commissioned to do a painting for the new Hilton Hotel in Queenstown.

Mark Kane is a specialist illustrator working in digital and traditional media.

From a young age he has been passionate about the visual arts.  Mark was fortunate to receive a sports scholarship to Middle Tennessee State University where he gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting with minors in drawing, design and ceramics. This gave him a strong foundation in traditional art forms and allowed him to further develop his love of creating.

Since graduating, Mark has worked as a print and web-based graphic designer and also as a free-lance illustrator.  He has moved away from more traditional art forms to discover the many exciting opportunities offered by the dynamic world of digital media, which he has continued to explore through his work as an illustrator.

Alex developed a passion for photography after being given a Pentax ME film camera for his 13th birthday. Since then he has completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The Dunedin School of Art, majoring in photography, and worked for clients such as The University of Otago, SilkBody Clothing, Carousel Lounge Bar and Lou+Ash Clothing. He is currently based in Christchurch where he continues to be involved in a range of projects both locally and in his hometown of Dunedin.

Alex spent six months living and studying in Kansas City, USA for the final semester of his degree. This six-month stint saw his work mature and advance, becoming imbued with a raw and brooding quality that draws inspiration from a mixture of the world around him and his overactive imagination. His images are often loaded with meaning and in many ways act as a culmination of the reality around him, twisting and distorting the perceived veracity of the photograph.

He also enjoys working across different media – drawing, performance and Video installation. As a regular contributor to the Dunedin based The Branch Collective he has explored these other avenues, in particular creating a large scale drawing performance during the 2011 Dunedin Fringe Festival show Half.

Alex also has a passion for travel, having journeyed to Japan, Germany, England, China and the USA. He finds these trips as a massive source of inspiration and his work tends to draw on imagery and events experienced in these countries well after his actual visit.

The lyrical, abstract works painted by Alex Stone reflect on the ancient traditions of lines in the landscape, and on our visual acuity in reading those lines. Out of this heritage, Alex Stone constructs a new language of mystery, elegance, and beauty.

Many of Alex’s paintings are done on GIB®  Board, a contemporary material which he employs in the renewal of an age-old practice – painted and engraved images on rock – and in so doing creates what might be called contemporary petroglyphs on this “packaged rock face”.

Alex’s work has received critical acclaim. Reviewer Janet Hunt has written of Alex’s work: “…Stone describes his work as ‘abstract calligraphy’, an apt description for it tantalizingly both suggests and eludes meaning. Freeform, fluid, twirling and spinning like dancers across the boards, his work owes a little to maps, derives something from cartoons, and hints at musical notation or handwriting, especially hieroglyphics or cuneiform scripts. At the same time, it forms something greater than all of these.”

Sculptural expression in Alex’s work takes the form of weathervanes (commissions gladly accepted for fine buildings), and monumental versions of familiar, though enigmatically-altered Forms (see images in this gallery).

Alex has a MA in Art and Design from Auckland University of Technology, and has had many successful solo exhibitions in New Zealand.

Emily is a freelance creative photographer and artist currently based in Dunedin, New Zealand.

She works in an artistic and professional capacity providing photography in fashion, music and commercial areas that require a creative way of thinking and exceptional execution, meanwhile exhibiting personal artwork locally.

Emily’s work often has a distinct cinematic aesthetic and explores multi-dimensional technology and image veracity. Shooting with either digital or film, her ultimate goal is tell bold stories through beautiful photographs.

Emily has been featured on NZMusician as a prominent live music photographer and has photographed for a diverse range of advertising and fashion publications, such as Dunedin iD Fashion Week, Dunedin Fashion Incubator, Insiders Dunedin branding campaign, University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic.

Emily is also curator to The Branch Collective, which focuses on facilitating creative collaboration across mixed media in alternate exhibition spaces.

As a teenager two events would prove to have a profound influence on Kate Lill’s artistic practice.  She moved from South Africa to New Zealand and fell in love with photography. A passion that remained steady throughout her Fine Arts Degree, which was completed with honours, from ELAM School of Fine Arts. Although Kate is primarily a photographer, she also has an interest in etching and sculpting.

Kate draws inspiration from the Iconography of prevailing narratives and uses them as binding material specifically the iconography of biblical narratives and childhood fairy tales. Most of her work deals with state of being ‘in between’.  Whether its death, coming of age or diaspora they all speak to states of transience, the moment of expectation in between before and after, memories and their influence.

Lei Wen comes from a family with a long history of artistic tradition. Her parents are very supportive of her ambitions as an artist, and had her trained professionally since she was 13.

She was drawn into New Zealand’s fascinating environment, from both a nature lover’s, and an artist’s standpoint. So in 2003, she left home, to begin her studies as an artist at the Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design.

After she graduated, Lei worked as a graphic designer for a few years, but she has since realised that her passion lies with fine art painting. As a result, she began to focus on the portraying of the essence of nature. New Zealand’s wildlife and landscapes fuel her passion to recreate those images, along with the spirit that resides within them, through her art – for those who share her love for nature.

Lei experiments with various techniques and styles, which ultimately helps her to develop and improve on her own. Her most preferred media is acrylic on board or canvas. She is most comfortable with acrylic paints, because they allow her to achieve the degrees of realism in her paintings, and the technical effects that she desires.

Lei’s works have been collected by many famous art collectors including The James Wallace Arts Trust.

Since the final year of Jane’s Bachelor of Visual Arts at Manukau Institute of Technology in 1998 she has exhibited with many Auckland Galleries including: SOCA, Soliloquy, Uxbridge, McPherson Gallery and Orex Gallery.  She is also represented by Imitate Gallery in Manchester UK.

Last year, Jane has regularly exhibited in the ‘Pod’ section of the Satellite Gallery and was a selected artist of the Braveheart Trust Exhibition.

Insects are the dominant feature in most of Jane’s paintings, as she finds them endlessly fascinating with their unique shapes and colours.  Her influence stems from her earlier years studying museology, collectors and evolutionists.

Dane is interested in the stories we tell ourselves and the way we impose our own meaning and order on the world.  He is increasingly drawn towards his own origins and history and representing those in his own particular way.

Dane’s images always seem to tend towards the surreal.  He believes its more interesting to see things as we don’t expect them to be. The longer you can be engaged with the images the better.

Dane favours more realistic effects, because it makes each story seem more authentic, boosting the chance the viewer might buy into the dream.

In 2010 Dane graduated from UNITEC School of Design, majoring in Painting and Sculpture and was a finalist in the annual Wallace Art Awards.

Rebekah Atkins is an Auckland based graphic designer / illustrator. Rebekah’s love and career is design. She has over ten years art + design experience working in New York, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia + New Zealand with successful brands.

RISE, her design studio based in Ponsonby, works with inspirational clients such as – SONY Music, Samsung, Loop and also creates motion graphics + music videos for MTV Asia.

Her main love is music graphics and CD / Record packaging. Working with NZ label LOOP Recordings for 10 years, Rebekah has designed the album covers for Fly My Pretties, Nat Rose, Paul McLaney, Spacifix, Jason Kerrison (Opshop), SONY and Rawkus Records compilations in New York.

Rebekah has featured in 11 group shows exhibiting a collage of her original drawings, symbolism of type and imagery + a solo show in 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand.

She is known for her detailed hand drawn, multi media / stencil paintings of soul musicians. The images are almost ghost like which captures the spotlight essence of some of these late artists featured in her paintings. These soul portraits are impressed on canvas, custom cut wood and household objects.

Rebekah spent two years studying and working in New York in 2000. When returning to New Zealand she became a co-founder in Rise and Shine Productions – which created a massive creative community with exhibitions travelling all over New Zealand.

She now co-ordinates and tutors at an annual art workshops for Glen Innes youth called ‘Rise and Shine’.

Julia’s fascination with photography all started when her father built his own photographic darkroom in the early nineties. She has been capturing the world around her since the age of 6, which was when she received her first camera, a Nikon Zoom 200. “I loved snapping shots of my family, animals, plants and so on. When a few films were developed, people began to notice my ‘photographic eye’.”

During high school Julia’s parents gave her a Minolta 35mm which was a huge step up from the little Nikon Zoom. She could now begin to learn all the functions that were involved with creating an aesthetic photograph.

Being in the photographic industry for a year, Julia decided to take photography to the next level. In 2008 she enrolled in the ‘Diploma in Contemporary Photography’ at Unitec. Parallel to this she was working alongside wedding photographer Michelle Wobcke.

Julia has always had a strong connection with Brazil, ever since she was young. In September 2010 she decided to return for ‘Paraty em foco’, an International Festival of Photography which is held in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro.  ”This was truly a mind opening and life changing experience for me, from the various artists I met to the beautiful historical town I connected with.”

Julia is now based in New Zealand and taking part in the Photo Forum NZ Committee. “I’m looking at contributing to the photographic culture in New Zealand, along with working on publishing my first book.”

Bonnie Coad is a self taught artist specialising in experimental, organic compositions.

Coming from an artistic family, she was always encouraged to explore her creative side.  Her art is active and dynamic, combining bright cheerful colours with experimental paint application. She enjoys mixed media work and uses texture and bold colour combinations to create unique artworks.

Bonnie was born in England in 1974 while her Australian Parents where enjoying an extended trip around the world. They moved to New Zealand to live when Bonnie was four and grew up on the West Coast of the South Island without the modern convenience of electricity or telephone. It’s to this that she credits her creativity.

In 1987 the then much larger family made the move from the West Coast to Motueka where Bonnie spent her teenage and young adult years, and it was during this time that she began to paint and develop her original style.

Bonnie moved from Motueka to Blenheim in 2002 and is involved in the Blenheim Art Society, exhibiting in their regular exhibitions through out the year.

She has held solo exhibitions in Blenheim and Motueka and been involved in group exhibitions in Blenheim, Motueka and Auckland.

She is the house artist for the Riverside Café, situated at the historic Riverside Community in Upper Moutere, Motueka, where her art is on show for approximately eleven months of the year.

She is currently working on up and coming exhibitions to be held in Blenheim, Lumsden, Motueka and Auckland.

Anna Starr is an emerging contemporary artist and photographer. She specialises in analog photography, working with 35mm, medium format and large format cameras; and thrives on the risk and challenge that comes with photographing in different physical environments. Dark room processing and hand printing from film is a consistent practice and notions of wonder and the phantasmal are hinted throughout her works.

“Elam was a place for me to learn how to channel my ideas and energies effectively; to bring depth and a kind of simplified complexity to my work.  Inspirations come to me from many areas, including fashion, film, dance, art, literature and religion. My works often present constructions of imagined scenes, and explore notions of wonder and discovery.”

People’s world views are all too often expressed in a careless verbal fashion. Kate Spencer, a Wellington artist, chooses to screen print hers, taking a much more premeditated route to self expression.

Amongst other things, Kate Spencer is a screen printer since the age of 18, when she started her first screen printing course through a community centre. Her works show an equanimity between social controversy and her own interpretation of what the world is like.

Kate’s first series of prints, in 2004, were centered around the impending intrusion of the Wellington city bypass, which threatened the closure & absolute demolition of stalwart Wellington haunts – both homes & small businesses sheltered within charming old wooden buildings. The days seemed numbered and local folk were demonstrating and throwing themselves in front of wrecking balls. The community, including Kate, was out in force to lap up the last days of the old upper Cuba Street vibes, and to sort of soak in the memories of the place. This is the feeling her images captured. To immortalise them in print was a smart move, and her voice though quiet and reserved, speaks loudly through her careful selection of images.

This young lady is a single mum, busy volunteer in her local Aro Valley community, and maintains an art space which she utilises as a sewing café where people can learn to sew with her guidance. She has shown pieces in New York and Melbourne. She is set to show a new series of work this June, and without divulging anything, she promises to bring the societal scandal by keeping all hands firmly on the ……. (the thing you spread the paint on with).

Jo McLean was born and raised in England, graduating from South Glamorgan Institute with a B.A Hons in Ceramics in 1988. After emigrating to N.Z in 1994 she started a family and has recently returned to ceramics, employing a bird theme.

Jo uses terracotta and porcelain clay, copper oxide to delineate detail and a variety of porcelain slips for the base colour. After a bisque firing, earthenware glazes are applied before re-firing. The final stage is crafting and attaching the wire legs.

“I try to bestow each bird with it’s own identity, no two are ever the same. I hope they suggest a lightness of spirit that I observe in the birds around us.”

The works pictured are currently earmarked for an exhibition in April 2011, but they are available to be viewed until that time.