Pioneers
Mixed genre group exhibition
Date: Jan 16 – Jan 29Space: Main Gallery
A vibrant group exhibition showcasing paintings, drawings, and fiber art.
Artists featured: Anita Vela, Ana Rosa Rico, Claudia Quested, and Kylie Hughes.
About the Artists:
Kylie Hughes
Kylie is a local emerging artist whose work blends semi realism with illustrative line work, using charcoal powder and graphite to create soft, atmospheric studies of the female form. Drawn to moments of stillness and reflection, her current series explores the grace of the female form both within and beyond the world of ballet, using simplified compositions and minimal backgrounds.
Kylie invites viewers into these quiet spaces where she captures the unseen moments, the resting gestures, the calm between movements – revealing that these softer pauses are just as important as life’s celebrated moments that are shown to others.
Kylie works from her home in Napier, where she continues to develop her practise and expand her exploration of the female form, gesture and softness.
Ana Rosa Rico
Ana Rosa brings the colour and energy of her Spanish roots into her artwork. As an intuitive painter, her painting practice begins in a moment of peace, a meditative space, and, it is in that solitude, that Ana finds freedom and allows each piece to find its own direction. Perception over perspective.
A largely self taught artist, Ana’s acrylic brushstrokes evoke the emotion of Impressionism, whilst her watercolours move towards the Abstract.
This exhibition is a study of Aotearoa’s landscapes and the Tui series. Inspired by New Zealand’s natural environment, Ana brings the Tui alive amongst vibrant native bush, almost hearing their birdsong amongst kowhai pikopiko and harakeke.
Claudia Quested
Claudia is a fiber artist whose crochet tapestries and sculptural works blur the boundaries between craft and contemporary art. Using crochet as her primary language, she builds intricate forms and richly textured surfaces, creating pieces that communicate far beyond the materials themselves.
Drawing inspiration from every corner of life, Claudia translates her observations into expressive pieces. Her practice is grounded in the meditative rhythm of hand-made art, allowing each piece to carry a sense of perfect individuality.
“Crochet allows me to work slowly and intentionally, letting each stitch become part of a larger narrative. Whether I’m creating wearable pieces, tapestries, or sculptures, my goal is to honour the emotional resonance of hand-made craft and the stories woven into fiber.”
Anita Vela
Anita creates work shaped by the fluid interplay of poetry, music, and sensory perception. Her paintings explore the colours that exist not only in the world around us, but in the emotional landscapes within those quiet, shifting spaces between light and dark where imagination thrives.
Drawn deeply to the natural world, Anita’s work often reflects the places that anchor her: wide-open landscapes, the restless rhythm of the ocean, and the iconic silhouette of the pohutukawa tree. Through these elements, she paints moments of presence, scenes that invite viewers to slow down, soften their gaze, and connect with the subtle energies woven through nature.
Her approach embraces both intuition and observation, allowing colour to guide feeling and composition to emerge organically. Each piece becomes an invitation to experience the world with “soft eyes”, curious, attentive, and open to wonder.