Origins and Cycles

by Mike Quill

Date: Mar 21 – Apr 3Space: Main Gallery

Mike Quill is a Napier artist who has returned to painting in earnest after a professional life in the fields of graphic design, photography, illustration and teaching visual art.

He creates both realist and abstract works with the main themes being origins, arrivals, guardians, rebirth and cycles with the sea at the centre for the most part. This exhibition contains elements of all of these.

As he says, “Realism allowed me to explore the surface nature of the ocean, through a detailed, meditative process.” But in 2021 he was drawn to the opposite pole, that of abstraction as a means of exploring and revealing deeper energies.

Mike moved from small brush painting in acrylic to mixed media works which draw on a range of textures and techniques, from the impressionists and print processes, to Australian aboriginal art and  early litho stone processes. Also evident are examples of Sgraffito, being achieved with the help of a belt sander, to reveal deeper designs, counter rhythms and colours.

“I saw this change in observation as a powerful means of encouraging the imagination of the viewer and of course for myself. I am drawn to the swirling, organic, unformed, cosmic elements that meet to create imagery that is seemingly just out of reach and resulting in energetic happy accidents that come with the creative process and a leaf-blower.”

Mike’s hope is that the work he does inspires others to connect with their own creative spirit and to find joy and beauty in the world around them.

Opening night Friday March 21st 5-7pm.