Esther Bosshard has a new exhibition coming up at Inge Doesburg Gallery. In an interview with Rebecca Fox, Otago Daily Times, she talks about life in the Dunedin art school community and the opportunities that having teachers on tap provided and the new direction her latests works have taken.

"You have so much time to dedicate and experiment. Now I've been out a couple years, you realise how hard it is to balance working and making [art] and still having a life. You don't appreciate it until you leave."

It was at art school where she put aside her acrylic paints to try oils - a medium she had previously thought too hard.

"It was an eye-opener. They [oil paints] move in different ways. You could drag colours through other colours, mix up all your beautiful colours, created ridges and shadows. It was really exciting.

"Since I had the space and the teachers it gave you the bravery to try new things."

At art school, she mainly did still life paintings because she did not want to paint from photographs.

"I wanted to actually look at things. It was something I could do easily and constant so I could experiment with oil paints."

Only then she found she was stuck inside most the time - only seeing the sun from the window.

"I thought if I did some landscapes I could go out and make some drawings and photographs ... I guess it seems like I'm working my way through all the traditional genres at the moment.

(image - Esther Bosshard, Glass with Tamarillos, work from her SITE 2015 exhibition)

To see "My hair is longer and the plums are ready now", new paintings by Esther Bosshard, Inge Doesburg Gallery, February 17-23.


Published on 1 Feb 2018

Orderdate: 1 Feb 2018
Expiry: 31 Mar 2018