When Jade (Namu) my 22 year old son and I decided to exhibit together for the second it seemed opportune to show a series of unexhibited coat drawings on paper I did when I was a 22 years old along with Jade’s current work, as a fun leaping off point together. These coats are suspended empty vessels, remnants of my past.

As a 22 year old, I feel my life is only beginning. I have endless possibilities, and life fee ls huge and amazing and in technicolor. This is represented in my paintings being as colourful and as vibrant as I can make them. However, last year a close family friend of mine passed away, which has made me think about the concept of death a lot more in my work. I have come to the point now where I am enjoying combining themes of life and death, still in technicolor but often with skull imagery.

Dream Art is a mixture of works from Shaista Neek Qadam and Eim Suwansura, two 16 year old artists.

“The exhibition called Dream Art reflects the Surreal. We hope you enjoy it. Welcome to our imagination.”

I was trained as an animator but found my calling in art, in illustration and storytelling, both visual and written. I work as an artist in Palmerston North, drawing, painting and printing in inks, gouache, watercolours and lino or whatever medium the piece calls for. Drawing on my Celtic blood, a wild imagination, unusual musical tastes, studies in history and ancient cultures and a life long love for all things weird and wonderful, in my art, I endeavour to tell tales, to inspire the mind to dream and always to put a little magic back into the world.