About the Exhibition

This grouping of paintings brings together three separate threads of work, all situated in the wild pine and native bush that populates the land near where Jean lives. Puponga point in the Waitakere ranges, now covered in old pine trees, the remnants of a rumoured work for the dole scheme tree planting in the 80’s. Unmonitored trees crash to the ground in their own time while amongst the carnage of splintered wood new clumps of native bush or weeds emerge. There is a left-alone forgottenness about this situation that Jean likes and finds the quietness appropriate ground for the uneasiness of the current world to permeate the paintings with worried whispers. 

All paintings are painted outside with an effort to capture what is being seen, while in some way also echoing wider concerns. The 200 days of rain series were painted leading up to and over the period of the Auckland floods and are therefore paintings of the rain and a certain time. The two large tree paintings echo a world at war and a sense of loss. The most recent series aims to capture the forgotten overlocked and subdued parts of the landscape, capturing mood through colour and brush mark. 

About the Artist

Jean Stewart is a painter and senior arts educator based in West Auckland, holding a Masters in Design and Painting. Over the past 20 years, her practice has explored storytelling through colour, mark-making and memory.

Jean’s work often extends beyond the canvas, connecting communities through site-specific projects. Her recent work includes the Whau Local Hero portrait series, Workers in dirt community garden series and Departure lounge, a series of works based on the final months of the Kings Arms Tavern. 

jeanstewart.co.nz