Opening 5:00pm Friday 4 November 2022
Fiksate is excited to present Archetypes, a new body of work by Jessie Rawcliffe and Dr. Suits. Archetypes explores the merging of portraiture and abstraction in a series of captivating, collaborative new paintings by two of Ōtautahi’s most exciting emerging artists.
Opening November 4th 2022, Archetypes showcased a range of works that combine each artist’s stylistic and material approaches. Examining how compositional approaches can emphasise, obscure or reveal details, Rawcliffe and Dr. Suits invite the viewer into the images, the layering of abstraction over figurative aspects compelling them to step back or move in to gain a deeper understanding. Formal elements of colour, texture and shadow add further emotional resonance to the paintings.
Archetypes’ collaborative approach brings a fresh perspective to Fiksate’s exhibition schedule and we can’t wait to share this new body of work with you.
"Collaborating with another artist allows you to view your work from someone else's perspective and consider your own process critically. You tend to stop and question why you make certain decisions while you’re allowing yourself to open to ideas from another person. They tend to see things you don’t.
Nath and I have spent time developing our own styles, collaborating has enabled us to bring together what we each know about our mediums and make works that capture both our perspectives" - Jessie Rawcliffe.
"As soon as I saw the 2 layers combined to create the first painting, I wanted to do another one straight away. This first painting became our Archetype, which would go on to inform the remainder of the works in the show. From that point, I was excited to make more collab pieces and wanted to explore different ways we could merge portraiture with abstraction". - Nathan Ingram
About the artists
Jessie Rawcliffe is a multidisciplinary artist and designer located in Christchurch, New Zealand. Employing frustrating care for pedantic detail paired with surreal omissions replaced with negative space, her growing body of work is a continual exploration into the roles of the subject and the viewer in figurative painting. Working as a designer and illustrator has allowed her to produce and collaborate on projects that exist in the public realm, however it is only recently she has had the opportunity for her art practice to do so also.
Rawcliffe's work was recently awarded a Highly Commended at the Adam Portraiture award. The Adam Portraiture Award is a biennial competition for painted portraits of New Zealanders, by New Zealanders and presents a breadth of responses to identity and representation. From 351 entries, Judges Linda Tyler and Karl Maughan selected 45 works for this years finalists exhibition.
Rawcliffe's painting titled 'Richard' was selected to join other award winning artworks an exhibition which will tour to Galleries around the country for approximately 12 months following the exhibition’s closure at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.
Nathan Ingram, or pseudonymously Dr Suits, is an Ōtautahi-based artist and designer with backgrounds in fashion and urban art.
Capturing the public imagination with a range of post-quake street interventions, Ingram’s creative output has diversified over time, shifting between settings and exploring processes and materials, from bold ground murals to elegant paintings on glass. This evolution reveals an adventurous nature as a maker not beholden to traditions and as comfortable embracing grand change and the potential of chance as he is fixating on refining ideas through repetitive process.
Ingram’s current work is grounded in the qualities of line, colour, surface and texture, juxtaposing the influence of the urban environment as a space of transient presence and constant physical flux with the calm repose of the studio. Varying in scale, and at times spanning framed surfaces, Ingram’s paintings grapple with the balance of order and chaos, a sense of poise often masking more energetic or physical exertions.
Ingram’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around Aotearoa and overseas, including the permanent collection of the Canterbury Museum. His public works span various cities and he has been included in festivals such as Taupo’s Graffiato (2021) and Ōtautahi’s Spectrum (2015) and Flare (2021).