The abstract practice of Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland-based artist Janet Mazenier engages with landscape and interprets place and space, while addressing environmental issues, questions of identity, and decolonisation. “I wish for viewers to interpret these underlying concepts by engaging with the paintings’ materially-rich, excavated layered surfaces,” says the artist. A finalist in New Zealand’s 2022 National Contemporary Art Awards among numerous other accolades, Mazenier’s works are dense and intentional. Striving towards a practice that is “as organic as possible”, she uses oil paint mixed with a beeswax medium, lending texture that is non-toxic. Techniques such as scratching, sgraffito, and other wet and dry mark-making methods are used to build complex, highly-worked surfaces. A 2021 graduate of Elam’s Master of Fine Arts program, Mazenier is this year commencing a PhD in Fine Art while working towards several exhibitions.
Featured Image: Janet Mazenier, Gritty, 2022. Oil and mixed media with beeswax on cradled panel, 100 x 100cm. Courtesy: the artist.