Jana Wood

Pink Squall, Oil paint on Rabbit skin gesso on board, custom-made bolted on frame, 700x700mm, Selected Finalist in the 2022 National Contemporary Art Award, Te whare o taonga Waikato – Waikato Museum

Pink Squall responds to the distinctive pink light that moves across the dunes as spring approaches.

Night Walking – 700x700mm, Oil paint on Rabbit skin gesso on board (NFS) Selected finalist in the 2022 National Contemporary Art Award, Te Whare o taonga Waikato, Waikato Museum

Night Walking reflects the return journey across the dunes after sunset.

Lurkey Spaces, Curated by Artful, sponsored by Auckland city Council. A two-person show with Michelle Reid.

Photo credit Samuel Hartnett

Some time in Autumn, 700x740mm(w), Oil paint on Rabbit Skin Gesso, custom-made bolted on frame, (Gifted)

(middle) –“This Gentle Sway” Oil paint on linen, custom-made bolted on frame, 460x365mm (gifted)

(Right – in cubby-hole) “Celestial Dream“, Oil paint on Rabbit Skin Gesso on board, custom-made bolted on frame, 500x510mm (NFS)

Celestial Dream emerged during the 2020 Covid lockdowns, a period spent largely observing the expansive space at te Pūaha o Waikato. Without access to a studio or painting materials, I turned to writing, reflection, and sustained looking. By the end of that lockdown, it became clear that this period of stillness had quietly shifted my trajectory. What began as contemplation evolved into the desire to relocate; to live and work permanently in this place. Celestial Dream marks a subtle point of origin—an early articulation of a new way of working, and a new way of living, shaped by attentiveness, time, and place.

Right, View from the top of the Dunes Oil paint on board, custom-made bolted on frame, 300mm x 330mm

View from the Top of the Dunes is among the earliest works in this series, painted in response to the shifting and varied viewpoints encountered while walking through the dunes. The work draws direct lineage from Colin McCahon’s early 1970s series View from the Top of the Cliff, painted at Muriwai, which acted as a key catalyst for the development of this ongoing body of work.

Futhering Landscape Oil paint on linen, 310mmx380mm (sold)

Mother Mother Iteration 14 Lockdown Special, Lot 23, Minni Street, Tamaki Makaurau.

View from the top of the Dunes, Group of 12, all 200x200mm, Oil paint and mixed media on board.

All works were swapped with participating artists.

This series of eleven paintings was completed during the second Covid lockdown. This was my first series following the building of my studio, and move to te pũaha o Waikato.