Grace Wright

Grace Wright is an abstract painter born 1992 in Tauranga, Aotearoa New Zealand who lives and works between Auckland and Paris. She studied her Bachelor of Fine Arts (2011-2014) and Master of Fine Arts with first class honours (2018-2019) at Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland. 

Wright’s paintings are atmospheric and dynamic, drawing inspiration from the drama of 17^th century religious painting and the tempestuous rhythm of the natural world. Baroque elements such as strong diagonal forces and chiaroscuro lighting evoke a sense of bodies amid an active landscape. Her early background in dance and music shaped her approach to art making. Informed by rhythmic movement, with no pre-planning, her gestures stretch and convulse on the canvas, working together to create an atmosphere that hints at the representational in an entirely abstract language. Renaissance colour palettes collide with hues that feel almost digital, like a fantasy video game landscape. Her process of building a painting is much like that of a music composer where melodies and instruments combine to generate an emotive atmosphere. That understanding of musical structure, of tension, release, and gravity, translates directly into how she builds a painting.

Her recent interest in physics and residency expedition to Antarctica has provided new investigations into the way painting can evoke a sense of awe, seeking to depict the invisible forces and deeper realities that shape our lives.

Download Artist CV

"With my titles I choose phrases that feel incomplete, yet use certain words that suggest a kind of texture, harmonising with the painting. The words are not so much describing but extending the work and evoking a reading one might not have initially had. Often, they sound grand as if they could belong to heroic works of history. I’m interested in the way the words come together in a phrase and how they could have more than one meaning, resisting one clear definition."