Jane Hyder is a Wellington artist, painter and printmaker. Here she shares her inspirations, including Matisse, Mansfield, and her mum.
Who are your biggest influences?
My mother, Aileen Urlich, who was a Wellington-based house designer in the 1950's inspired me from a young age to be aware of art and design in every aspect of daily life.
Another big influence of mine was Henri Matisse and his museum in the south of France. He inspired me to look more closely at patterns and the interactions between colours.
What projects are you working on now?
My current project is a series of wildly vivid fauvist works on paper that feature a mix of figures and abstract compositions. The project expresses the exotic energy I felt during my travels overseas, and reinterpreting that experience into a heightened plane of imagination.
Do you collect anything?
Under the influence of Matisse, I love to collect a variety of colourful and quirky decor that trigger a sense of history, moods, and style, which I can arrange to evokes the feeling of a staged set. The physical presence of these objects in turn inspire my own artwork.
What ideas reoccur in your work and why?
I have noticed that over the past 10 years, my work often returns to relationships between mother and child. I also enjoy presenting female figures throughout history, especially female artists of the 20th Century like Frida Kahlo and Katherine Mansfield.
Who is your favourite NZ artist and why?
My favourite New Zealand artist is Seraphine Pick. Her work retains a deep sense of mystery to me, and I love her use of mood and narrative. I find her work stimulates my imagination, and takes me to another place and time within my subconscious.
If you were a crayon, what colour would you be and why?
Orange because it's a high energy colour, and I love to combine it with purple.
What were you like at 15?
Loved entertaining myself and my friends by making up plays in Eastbourne, Wellington.
Money is no object. Which priceless artwork do you buy?
Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait with a Monkey (1940).
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