Zoe Leeb-du Toit
Painting and gardening are so connected for me and influence each other strongly.
My influences are broad yet connected: nature, environment, gardens, plants and landscapes are key. My principal area of research is the representation and stylisation of plants in art across diverse cultures, from Maori and Pacific arts, Celtic art, Indian miniatures to Japanese prints. This extends into plants as patterns in fabrics, ornamentation and the decorative.
I am privileged to be able to call Waiheke home, I am always discovering new angles and views to paint and never tire of the changing light and colours of Aotearoa, there really is nowhere in the world quite like it.
I tread a precarious path between escapism and reality. Having done battle with anxiety and depression for 25 years, my painting practice is often a way for me to lift myself out from under a dark cloud. I have no desire to paint my sorrow as many have done before me. I find no solace in wallowing in a sad film, book or painting. As T.S Eliot said “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” I relate to Matisse’s view that art should be a “comfortable armchair” - a respite from the world.
My paintings are like my personal collections of patterns from my varied influences, experiences and homes. Each pattern has a memory, landscape or atmosphere I associate with it. At the same time as being bright, colourful and complex, for me they are rather like I have tidied up all my thoughts and organised them for a while – organised chaos perhaps!
My aim is for my paintings to reflect the beauty I see in nature, a celebration of what we have left, of nature’s capacity to heal, regrow, flourish and amaze.
