Kate Small

Kate Small was born in Lower Hutt in 1968 and graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1991. Small’s paintings are held in public and private collections. Her work has been shown in exhibitions at City Gallery, Wellington, Te Whare Toi, The Dowse Art Museum and Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History. She describes her paintings as, “dioramas of social ordinariness.”

SOMETIMES was scheduled to open on 29 August 2021. Due to Covid restrictions the exhibition has been online only. The ten included paintings began green but increasingly became pink. “I give a lot of detail then eliminate it — I can’t just not have it.” Their sumptuously coloured surfaces are loosely defined by ambiguous architectural traces, ceiling details, lights and fans. Fragments of radiators and sectional sofas share space with figures in togs who at first glance might nod to the age old formula of bathers in paintings. However as has been consistent in Small’s paintings for many years, these female inhabitants are accessorised by mops, sinks and other accoutrements of housework. Despite the pleasure-seeking colour enveloping them, they are at a standstill. Small says, “I spend all day in an institution [for many years she has been a secondary school art teacher]. It provides a huge amount of material.”

For details of Kate Small works available please contact Anna [email protected]