When examining my paintings, one will notice the frenetic energy that is present throughout the work. Upon investigating more closely, it will become apparent that this activity is the essence of each mark. In this sense, painting is a personal act that works to understand the subject. Whether the subject be that of the internal world of the artist or a literal form of the external world, it is the very translation of thought to form that ignites life within the painting.
As an artist, I use oil paint as a medium to explore this kindred connection that exists between the mark and intent.
Although my practice remains figurative, it must be stressed that the majority of my inspiration stems from an internal source, something that is not driven by the literal subject. This has resulted in an impasto application of oil paint where variables such as speed, force and motion activate endless possibilities within each mark. Painting has come to be about capturing what occurs within the present moment. Whether this is from within the time to mentally prepare and “enter into” the painting, to the physical contact made of brush onto canvas.
The artwork itself is a result of a conducted spiritual process, where varying brushwork reflects the subtle layers of an authentic human response.
Find out more about Holly and her work hollyzandbergen.com
Valerie Olga Heinz (1928- 2022)
Artist and teacher, Valerie Heinz, belongs to the generation of women artists from the 1920s to late 1960s, who graduated from New Zealand’s schools of fine arts with a given understanding that they were graduates from a ‘finishing school,’ - trained to become teachers rather than at the beginning of professional careers as practicing artists.
For Heinz, this encompassed a professional and active engagement with the visual arts over 70 years, complemented and compromised to a certain extent, over 28 years as a secondary school teacher. Interviewed by journalist Anna Dunbar in 2000, Heinz reflected that it was much harder for women painters to make a stand in those days: ‘Looking back I wish I had been bold enough to take more time off.... It also seemed my male colleagues could somehow still manage to produce enough work to hold solo exhibitions every few years.... I feel now as if I am back to knowing what I want to do...[and] I am raring to go.’
Valerie Heinz was born in Greymouth and sustained an important relationship throughout her life with the West Coast’s flora and fauna and its rain forests.
Unlike many Canterbury painters, (Rita Angus or Doris Lusk for example), whose focus was on a wider view grounded in the notion of New Zealand’s strong Pacific light, Heinz’ response to the landscape was more intimate, all-embracing and about the presence of humanity being in the land.
Dr. Warren Feeney
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1944-48 Canterbury School of Art
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1944 Louise Lonsdale Prize, awarded for junior life work
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1954-56 Summer Contemporary Exhibition, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos
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2021 Parkin Drawing Prize, Academy Galleries, Wellington
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2021 ZAFAA21, Ashburton Art Gallery, Ashburton
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2020 Summer Contemporary Exhibition, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos
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2020 Springtime, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
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2019 Battersea Autumn Affordable Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
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2019 LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
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2019 RSM Plunket Law Art Show, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, New Zealand
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2019 Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
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2019 Hampstead Heath Affordable Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
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2019 Auckland Art Fair, The Cloud, Black Asterisk Gallery, Auckland
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2018 Context, Art New York, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, New York
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2018 Battersea Affordable Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
