Jana Wood

I have been a practising artist since 2007. I am of Māori and Scottish, Irish, and English descent. My iwi affiliations are Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Ngāti Kikopiri of the Kāpiti Coast. I whakapapa to the Tainui waka and to Ngāti Raukawa of Maungatautari, Waikato.

I now live and work primarily in Te Pūaha o Waikato, Port Waikato. Over time, a slow and deep connection has developed with this place—its land, waters, and histories—and the relationship it holds with my own iwi has become increasingly significant to my practice.

I completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Auckland University of Technology, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. I also hold a Certificate of Mauri Ora from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, which has deeply informed my understanding of wairua, whakapapa, and relational ways of knowing.

My practice explores the intersections between place, wairua, mauri, ecology, climate change, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation. I create immersive paintings that gently pull you in, surrounding your body and mind with the quiet force of color, shape, and light until you feel subtly changed by the experience. Lush, tactile surfaces and a spectrum of deep, glowing hues invite slow looking and emotional response. I work within a pared-down, minimalist language with clean lines and simple forms, My works feel expansive, atmospheric, and quietly overwhelming.

My methodologies are grounded in the study and reworking of historical painting traditions, ranging from pre-Renaissance techniques through to Impressionism and the Colourfield painters of the 1960s. I love working with salvaged timbers and raw materials gathered from the earth and shoreline, alongside traditional painting processes. These materials carry their own histories and energies, becoming collaborators in the work rather than passive surfaces.

I employ slow, alchemical processes that allow for an intimate engagement with materials in the studio, extending outward into direct encounters with the surrounding environment. Painting both in and out of nature, my practice becomes a form of listening—an embodied response to land, memory, and ancestral presence.

I have been a selected finalist in several notable National awards, and a Merit Award winner in one of those. My work is held in private collections throughout New Zealand and abroad, with two of my paintings also included in the public Collection “The Arts House Trust” – housed at Pah Homestead, Hillsborough, Tamaki Makaurau.

I am open to commissions, if you see something that interests you but is sold already. Please contact me (details on contact page).

See Bio section – for further information on exhibitions, awards, education, development etc..

Thank you for visiting, nga mihi me te ora