To celebrate the diversity of The Upstairs Art Gallery we have invited four artists to exhibit in our June ‘Pop Up’. Amrit Kaur, Ayumi Maxwell, Bree Fraser, and Raewyn Curran have all previously presented work in various shows. We have now combined their amazing talent into one group show. Opening with Caroline Bensinger, this is a show not to be missed.

Amrit Kaur

Working across a range of mediums, emerging NZ based artist, Amrit Kaur explores florals in her work. Her practice revolves around unpredictability and adventure where each piece goes on a journey of self-discovery and adopts a new personality with every mark. The design and colour hints at the surroundings around her as each brush stroke takes its own place amongst the others. Amrit paints to music, waves of emotions and energy that we all experience in our daily life, making her work a reflection of all of us

Bree Fraser

If there’s one thing that goes hand in hand with painting…it’s dancing. I am an artist, a painter, an oil painter to be specific. I love to explore colour, line and layering push the boundaries with how they sit together, the way line can work to create a three dimensional two dimensional image. I often use my deep love of the natural world to be the vehicle for my work. I live locally in the Waitakere ranges drawing inspiration from the world around me. I have used painting to hold me in space for most of my adult life, living with depression has been a journey of it’s own, and painting holds me while my mind runs rampant. My practice is growing as I am growing with new experiences that take me out of my studio and face to face with other artists, art communities and the wider community as a whole.

Ayumi Maxwell

Ayumi Maxwell is a self-taught painter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Focusing on figurative works, with abstract backgrounds that convey the emotion of the people in the scene. Her paintings are inspired by connections to people from past and present, interwoven with an exploration of spirituality and consciousness. Many of her paintings deal with concepts of grief and trauma after losing a long-term partner unexpectedly, 6 years ago. They have been a way to express difficult emotions and release some of the lingering effects of trauma stored in the body. The weight of losing a loved one has been lessened through this form of self-expression. It is her hope that others can connect with the feelings of love, loss, yearning, and optimism illustrated in these paintings. 

Raewyn Curran

I paint because it is fun – at least that is what I tell myself when the air turns blue. I’m interested in what I can bring out from day to-day life. Here, it was the bombastic way in which these flowers caught the night time light. What falls off the brush often ends up looking entirely different than what I thought it would. I’m trying to roll with it.

On show Friday 23 June - Friday 30 June