Exotic Creatures and Airbrush Features

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Two well- known New Zealand artists will be exhibiting their art works together at Mangawhai Artists Gallery, March 11-24. Exotic Creatures and Airbrush Features is a combined exhibition between Colin Unkovich and Elena Nikolaeva.

Elena considers herself to be an experimenter, blending, mixing, transforming elements of the traditional arts with non-artistic materials, creating quirky mixed media sculptures and 2D wall pieces.

This exhibition shows her creations made during 2020/2021. You will be able to see freestanding sculptures, wall pieces and 2D mixed media boards.

She incorporates different bits and pieces from the New Zealand environment – interesting driftwood pieces, leftovers from the building industry and various other found objects.

“I think that our civilisation is very wasteful,” says Elena. “It’s bad that we throw away a lot of good stuff. I don’t like it at all and I am trying to give some of these rejected items a second life as part of my art creations.

Elena says she has developed her own visual language based on thorough studies of traditional visual arts.

“For me there are no strict borders between different forms of art. The main goal is to create a correct visual expression of my inner emotional state. And usually, it involves a touch of humour.”

 

Born and bred in Bream Bay, Colin Unkovich grew up on the land. He is an outdoors person and as a result looks to the natural world for his muse. He has been working as a full time artist for the last 15 years but airbrushing for over 40 and his paintings hang in collections around the globe.

As a lifelong surfer he has an affinity with the water and coastlines and this is reflected in much of his art.

Colin says he is drawn to the ocean for his inspiration, setting out to capture different moods and emotions he is fascinated by the ever changing

water and light conditions and the use of his airbrush allows him to bring out hues not often seen in traditionally painted work.

“Using the airbrush is a meticulous and slow task but the end result is worth all the time.”

Colin's new body of work features a range of seascapes and surrealist paintings inspired by the natural environment around him.

n Exotic Creatures and Airbrush Features, Mangawhai Artists Gallery, 45 Moir St, from 6pm March 11, daily 10am-3pm. See mangawhaiartists.co.nz for more details.

 

A lifelong surfer, Colin has an affinity with the water and coastlines and this is reflected in much of his art. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

 

 

By recycling or reusing, Elena says she is trying to give rejected items a second life as part of her art creations. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

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