ABOUT NZ ARTIST MIRANDA WOOLLETT

Artists Statement

PAINTING CONTENT

I paint birds in the landscape as opposed to with a landscape. I like to give both the bird, landscape, foliage and message equal importance as I see them as interconnected and needing one another.

This complicates my painting process which means a painting can take a long time to resolve because of the complexity of elements and their relationship with one another. Especially when it is transferred to the flat surface of the canvas.

 

SUBJECTS & RELATIONSHIPS

I believe that nothing stands on its own physically or spiritually and this is what I try to convey in my paintings.

I believe all things are interconnected and have an effect on one another. Especially how we think.

The environment, the entity, colour, spacial platform, rhythm and most important the Light (spiritual and seen), are all important relational considerations in my work.

As are the birds and distinctive landscape of New Zealand where I live.

 

ARTISTS PROCESS

My intention isn’t to produce a botanic illustration, design or graphic representation but to portray sensation, emotion and spiritual presence.

Although my oil painting process has a traditional quality about it I am trying to convey concepts in an untraditional manner without well-used visual icons.

I have also learned from the process of painting that there is no simplicity without the detail and my paintings reflect that intricate quality.

 

In my Abstract works I paint from my subconscious carefully scumbling the paint over the dots of the canvas to build layers.

There is more thought than action as  I reinforce and subdue areas allowing everything to remain. A meditative response to shapes and colour.

My light source is internal creating a prismatic effect.

The result is a personal visual diary of my life encounters both emotive and situational.

 I have intruded into this space with text, in some works, to create conflict or subject.

My painting makes a connection with a universality we have with something greater than ourselves.

 

ARTIST STATEMENT -2022

Inspiration for my latest art works now comes from my memory and the first paintings I referenced from photographic information. I now have the freedom of not needing visual reference as a starting point.

 

I see my recent art similar to a mathematical equation as they are painted and can be viewed many ways and still work. They can be viewed reflected in a mirror, upside down, right way up and have a 3D component also. I sometimes replace light with dark or vice versa and include symbols of flight, landscape,trees, dancing, reaching out and celebration.

 

The subject in my recent paintings remains a bird or flight in an environment/landscape and I am combining abstract, figurative and symbolic elements together. The environment has become dominant or the subject in some cases and dictates how other elements are represented.

 

My art is my personal journey in life revealing challenges, celebrations and continues to push towards a destination. Painting is how I communicate with the world and myself, helping me discover personal idiosyncrasies, future possibilities and connecting me with the beauty of life and my spiritual world.

 

ARTISTS PROFILE

New Zealand Bird and Landscape Artist Miranda Woollett graduated from the Wellington Polytechnic Visual Communications Design course with a Diploma in 1980. She has been employed in many different areas of the visual arts including Graphic design, book illustration, set design and worked as a freelance advertising illustrator in Wellington. She has illustrated books for renowned children's authors Margaret Mahy and Joy Cowley.

 

”I paint oil paintings of birds in the New Zealand landscape. The idea behind these oil paintings is to try and represent how I feel emotionally as an artist and to communicate on an environmental level. Rather than using people as my subject I choose the bird. It is vulnerable yet gets on with life regardless of circumstances.
Its environment is affected by the choices we make. My art is sourced exclusively from where I live in New Zealand As an artist I hope to connect with others who have a love of beauty and the environment we live in. Each persons reaction to their environment is a unique experience. Everything that we are (our deepest inner self) is transferred from that experience, out into the world for others to see, through the process of creating art.”

 

ANALYSIS OF PROCESS - 28 Aug 2022

Over the years I have analysed the data provided to me by photographs.

My subject being 'Birds in the Landscape'.

Out of this I have created myself a process to paint that replicates the character of nature and the effect of light, using tangents, intersecting lines and significant points associated with Geometry.

This has enabled me to paint anything without reference which frees me to create what I want knowing it could actually exist in reality.

A form of technical drawing or drafting geometry in paint.

I try to include in my abstract landscape paintings many of the formalities of Art and the fundamental principles of Design.

 

 

EXHIBITIONS:
2002 Archibalds Artplace.Finding my way. Upper Hutt.
2002 Taylor Jensen Fine Arts. Relationships. Palmerston North.
2002 Expressions. Upper Hutt Artists. Upper Hutt.
2004 Taylor Jensen Fine Arts. A Family Affair. Palmeston North.
2004 Affordable Arts.Wellington.
2005 Academy Galleries. NZAFA Heritage Award (FInalist).Wellington.
2006 Academy Galleries. Solo 23. Wellington.
2008 Academy Galleries. Mental States. Wellington.
2008 Academy Galleries. Solo 27. Wellington.
2009 Expressions. Vector Gallery. Upper Hutt.
2009 Expressions. Upper Hutt Salon. Upper Hutt.
2009 Exhibitions Gallery. Lost in Paradise. Wellington.
2010 Little River Gallery. Banks Peninsula.
2010 Taylor Jensen Fine Arts. Palmerston North.
2011 Efil Doog Gallery of Fine Art. Solo Time Markers. Akatarawa.
2011 Staglands Wildlife reserve. Akatarawa
2011 NZ Academy of Fine Arts. Occassion. Wellington.
2012 Kiwi Art House. NZ Art partnership. Wellington
2013 Exhibitor at NZ Academy of Fine Arts.Matariki
2014 Exhibitor at NZ Academy of Fine Arts.Matariki

2015 Expressions Regional Art Award.

2016 Percy Thompsen Gallery, Stratford.

2022 Solo 50 Academy of Fine Arts

Miranda is an elected Artist member of The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.

Her oil paintings are in private and public art collections in New Zealand and overseas.