Dimensions - 80cm diameter tondo x 3.5cm deep
Medium - Original acrylic and gold leaf on custom board
 
The New Zealand native bird series stems from a painting for a client who commissioned a large work combining my abstract form-based De Stijl original paintings and the New Zealand fauna I explored in depth within my wood cut sutie of prints. 
 
A new hybrid approach to composing opened up wihin my painting practice and this exploration and hybridisation of formal De Stijl distilled forms and colours alongside figurative elements of the New Zelaland iconography culture was continued.
 
Within this new series the iconic Tūī has been chosen as the main focal point for fixing connection and a reference within the New Zealand lexicon. This native bird is also so deeply rooted in the collective consciousness - from it's song to it's silhouette and its distinctive feather throat plume. 
 
Sunlight Tūī is part of this series, the forest green background offsetting the orange, ochre, taupe and sage forms in the foreground. I often use metal leaf in my work, and gold leaf detai in this work reflects light and has a sunshine-like reflective quality, adding a sense of joy and lightness to the work. 
 
This artwork has sold but commissions are welcome, please get in touch.