I was seduced by the world of paint very early in life. My formative memories include Agee jars of poster paint and newsprint and the phenomenon of one colour 'touching' another and a new one emerging. Since graduating from Canterbury University School of Fine Arts, I have consistently painted and exhibited, slowly evolving my own visual language.
My studio is on the edge of the Waimea Plains in Nelson and this pastoral setting near the mouth of the Waimea River is a constant source of inspiration.
While I tend to work in series, which throughout my career have often been inspired by people and historical events in related landscapes, new new combinations of colour still spark ideas and possibilities and it is this that drives my creative process.
I prefere to use surfaces that come with their own history - organic mediums like tapa cloth, driftwood and more recently,industrial geotextile and milking machine components; both of which formed the basis for the installation White Gold: The Business of Milk, which investigated issues surrounding the dairy industry, as witnessed from my studio.
By responding to surroundings and taking cues from found materials, I am able to imbue my paintings with local and wider Pacific references. Using layered transparent and metallic pigments, I make images that have luminosity and depth of surface that reflect the history of this land and its people, as filtered through my imagination.
Sally was resident judge for the World of Wearable Art for many years and is now advising on the final judging panel.
She is represented by Red Gallery, Nelson. |
Photo by Daniel Allen |
|
