The works of Mumbai-born brunelle dias are motivated by, as she says, “a desire to be present and notice the things around me”. Using vibrant oils or watercolours, dias renders mundane scenes of washing lines, figures in repose on plastic chairs, or a sibling cleaning the toilet with a captivating sense of tenderness and intimacy. Painting from both smart phone photos and family albums, the artist is interested in, “using paint to translate the fluidity of time, the transiency of space and place, and the fluctuating nature of relationships and the environment.” Based in Auckland, dias showcased her work in the way things are held at the Physics Room, in Otautahi, Christchurch in 2022. That year, her casually compelling works also appeared in The Local Migrant at RM Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau; Idyll at Page Galleries, Te Whanganui-A-Tara; and a revisit of introspective fieldworks: the everyday in flux at Nathan Homestead, Tāmaki Makaurau.
Above: Brunelle Dias, Part 1, bread, butter, marmalade, 2022. Oil on canvas, 156 x 126cm. Photo: Janneth Gil. Courtesy: the artist.