My works are an interest in the explorations of the quirky and the interestingly odd that come in a process of the sudden or spur of the moment ideas. I am attracted to the action or motion, abstraction, materialism, surrealism, and the mesmerising effect that can be achieved in art. 

Often I look to utilise mundane or ordinary objects and change their functions to create different meanings of their use while altering viewer’s perception of the material. For First Thursdays, I aim to keep my projects within the context of painting and drawing practices though play, while I also aim to push the boundaries of two dimensional works into physical senses and creating an interactive media.


Contact information:
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w: http://www.crossover.org.nz/

'Coleta is a Spanish born multimedia artist who combines both her
passions Art and Make-up artistry in her work.

During the past ten years she has been involved in designing Wigs &
Make-up for TV & Opera productions internationally which has greatly
influenced her artwork. In her photographs she creates diverse
characterizations using make-up whilst her current paintings focus on
pop culture.

Coleta studied Fine Art at Middlesex University and is a trained Art
teacher. She has exhibited her paintings/photographs both in solo and
collective shows in London'

Mark Fosters painting practice involves fastidious methods coupled with an intimate concern utilising field studies and photograhy as the source material for his bird paintings. It is through these methods that a thorough exploration of subject matter can be obtained and an attentive and considered approach to form, space, depth, tone and light within his work is acheived.

In the craft of painting,  Marks practice has investigated many areas of the visual horizon, the social narratives of the everyday, the suburban and urban landscape, the family snapshot. His predominant area of focus now centres on the research, study and painting of New Zealands Endemic, Native and Introduced bird species, alongside an ongoing interest in the selective bred show varieties of both avian and other animal forms. 

Marks practice is attuned into the exploration of the material front of his subjects, the qualities of their plumage, the presentation of their stance and form, their natural inclinations, and how these concerns, resolved through paint as a medium of reproduction, can be obtained in the undertaking of the creative act.

www.markfoster.co.nz

'Mark Leonard Watts is a photographic artist who works primarily in self portraiture. He grew up in Birmingham, UK, Lived in Wales, Sweden, Japan and is currently a resident of New Zealand. He has a Bachelor of Humanities with Honours from The University of Glamorgan in Wales and a Masters of Art and Design from Auckland University of Technology. He has exhibited in UK, Japan and New Zealand and is currently Manager of Satellite Gallery, Auckland.'

http://mlw.me.uk

Influenced by the time I spend in urban environments and my home base in rural Waitakere, my imagery evokes concepts of the interdependent and often imbalanced relationship between humans and nature and the cyclical processes of life. The Auckland West Coast beaches and Waitakere Ranges where I grew up, have always been a strong visual influence, as well as the journey too and from the city. As part of exploring the borders between these urban and rural environments, I like to use soft landscape forms against structural man-made elements. I enjoy bold bright colour but also like the contrast between soft and bright, dark and light, thick and thin paint applications, line and blended colour. I like to use the paint in these ways, to support the theme of borders within my work.

www.kiwiartist.com

"I see art as the continuation of the instinctive drive to play.  It is these instincts, I believe, which have led to the evolution in modern mammals of more sophisticated levels of intelligence.  The correlation in species such as dolphins, whales and primates, between extended periods of neoteny and increased intelligence and communication is directly causal, in my opinion.  I believe the act of playing is the process by which the self learns about itself.  It is a process which allows individuals to develop and test a rich range of responses to challenges and opportunities with which one is confronted.  We are the games we play."

Amy Blinkhorne is fascinated with the complexity of the human mind and how it perceives and shapes the world we live in today, the diversity of different environments, cultures and human lived experiences all filter into her painting practice.

Blinkhorne’s constant pursuit in finding an ironic balance of harmony, portraying diversity through expressing vast extremes of emotional states to depict a sensation, apposed to a narrative. These layered minimal fields loiter between abstraction and realism, they act like mirrors for one’s own imagination forcing the viewer to look beyond the physical.

www.amyblinkhorne.com

Boe is interested in people’s stories - both ordinary and extraordinary, real and make believe;
mostly she is interested in cutting and pasting pieces of these stories to create curious, ordinary and hyper real new narratives.
She Draws inspiration from 1970’s national geographic magazines, snippets of overheard conversations, old holiday snap shots, poetic novels and the colours of nature.

Boe studied screen-printing and visual arts at RMIT in Melbourne before shifting to a Painting major at Unitec. She graduated in 2008 and had her first solo show I always knew you were tomorrow at the Upstairs Gallery last year.  Currently Boe is screen-printing t-shirts and tea towels for her label Rodayo Busk; drawing pictures in her studio; teaching children’s art classes and working on becoming a full time artist.

www.boebusch.co.nz

Amy has had a passion for the arts before she could walk. Her self-taught work is often described as a marriage between Picasso and Pop-art with a strong focus on primary colour and shape. She works mainly with the female form and thinks there’s nothing better than a good set of curves for subject matter.

She sold her first galleried work at 12 years of age in Wellington many years ago and has been selling her work in galleries and exhibitions around Wellington and the Wairarapa and through commission based work until the present day.

After returning to Auckland to live 12 months ago Amy’s love for her work has now enticed her to take up the challenge to become a full time professional artist and she is focused on selling her work both online and through requested commissions.

website at www.amywalker.co.nz