Art Miles - Artist Lisa Chandler abroad

Nelson based painter Lisa Chandler has been running up quite a few air miles lately for her art.

Early in May, following her successful Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduation exhibition, she took a working holiday in Malaysia. She allocated several days to crowd spotting and placed herself in busy transit zones to record the moving traffic in photographs. These images provide the basis for her distinctive layered art works, which capture the transitory nature of people in non-places.

After a quick break at her home studio in Ruby Bay Lisa flew to the UK to take part in an international conference on ‘Affective Landscapes’. She presented a paper on her art practice as part of a panel called ‘Non-Place, Wrong Place’. There were participants, mostly academics, from all over the UK, Europe and America. Lisa was the only participant from New Zealand.

"I felt privileged to be invited to be part of such an interesting conference. The social science and philosophy around urban spaces was directly relevant to my Master of Fine Arts research. My artistic interpretation of the individual’s experience in crowded spaces was quite a talking point! I found the whole experience quite daunting at first, but then I came away bursting with energy, new contacts and inspiration."

Lisa made the most of her time while in the UK by holding a small solo exhibition, visiting a number of galleries and artists in the Midlands and London, and taking part in two radio interviews. The BBC reporter invited listeners to suggest interesting places in Derby for Lisa to consider for future works.

With a head full of ideas for future works, Lisa returned to New Zealand in June - just in time for the opening of her solo exhibition at the Black Asterisk Gallery in Ponsonby, Auckland:
 
“I was very pleased to see my paintings exhibited at Black Asterisk, and to sell several large paintings. This whole business of getting out there to actively develop my career as an artist is an expensive business!”

Lisa is delighted to be back in Nelson now, and she has been enjoying some much needed studio time to focus on creating new works for her future supporters.

"It's important to be adventurous and to keep stimulating my creative brain. In the past few months I have run up the 'art miles'. I've traveled to some contrasting and stimulating places. I'm learning to balance the business and networking aspects of my art practice with the artistic side. I'm also enjoying getting out and meeting people and sharing what I have observed in the international art scene."

Lisa Chandler will be speaking about her recent experiences in Malaysia and the UK at the Mckee Gallery in the Suter Public Art Gallery in Nelson at 7.30pm on Wednesday 11 July.
This event, part of the Nelson Suter Art Societies winter programme, is open to the general public for a gold coin donation.