Show Synopsis - Painted Landscapes

Auckland-based artist Sally Barron creates evocative landscapes that hover between representation and abstraction. Her works capture not just scenes, but the very act of perception itself - translating fleeting moments into dynamic traces of color and movement. With degrees from Leeds University, London's Royal College of Art, and Whitecliffe College, Barron's academic rigor informs her intuitive approach to color and form. A two-time Tasman National Art Award winner (2016, 2017) and Doig Art Award finalist (2018), her paintings preserve the fluidity of vision, inviting viewers to experience landscapes as ever-changing sensory encounters rather than fixed images.

Mike Crawshaw's latest collection captures Waiheke Island's ancient Stony Batter boulders - eight-million-year-old volcanic remnants etched by time, water, and lichen. These oil paintings explore Earth's endurance and fragility through disorienting palettes, inspired by Donald Hoffman's theories of perception. The works invite contemplation of our constructed reality and humanity's place within geological time. Amid climate change, these silent stone witnesses remind us of nature's resilience and our responsibility to protect it. Each piece documents the boulders' majestic forms while challenging viewers to question how perception shapes understanding of our fragile world.

Show Synopsis - Memory of Fire

Mike Crawshaw - Memory of Fire

Inspired by the ancient boulders of Stony Batter on Waiheke Island, these recent paintings delve into Earth's deep history and its dialogue with time. Formed around eight million years ago, the boulders are the remnants of extensive lava flows and have been shaped by the elements over millennia. Water running down the boulders from bygone trees has etched its record onto the stone in undulations now inscribed by blooms of coloured lichens. Amid climate change, these ancient stones stand as enduring witnesses to Earth's deep past, urging us to honour and protect the fragile world we share. These works represent my own efforts at recording the significance of this place and the majesty of these granite forms.

Shaped by time and the elements, the forms evoke both Earth's endurance and its fragility—a duality I seek to explore through disorienting palettes. I have drawn inspiration from the ideas of Donald Hoffman and the tradition of Analytical Idealism. Guided by Hoffman's insight that perception is an active intellectual process, I aim to capture the dynamic interplay between our perceptions and the external world. In exploring these constructed experiences I invite the viewer to reflect on the ways perception shapes their understanding of the world and their place within it.

Mike Crawshaw is a Waiheke-based figurative and landscape artist, having previously worked as a manager and refugee decision-maker with Immigration New Zealand. In 2022 he resigned from his position with INZ to devote his full time to painting. Mike has a MA (Hons.) in Political Studies from the University of Auckland (1990) and an MFA (Hons.) from Whitecliffe School of Fine Arts (2025). In 2023 Mike was awarded the Premier Award from the Walker and Hall Art Competition and in January 2024 was selected to participate in the Emergent Artists Exhibition at Sanderson Gallery. Mike has exhibited at the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Studio1081, Anomalous and Sanderson Gallery. Mike works chiefly in oil paint on board and canvas.

Sally Baron - Painted Landscapes

My landscapes while representational in part are also speculative and open-ended. I am interested in capturing not just what I see but how I see it. I paint moments as traces of movement and experience rather than fixed scenes, bringing together thought and feeling. Sensitive to colour in the landscape, I use it intuitively, allowing it to guide the painting process. My work moves between observation and abstraction, keeping vision fluid, personal, and open to change.

Sally Barron is a contemporary artist based in Auckland, where she works and teaches. Her practice explores ways of making perception visible, capturing moments in time and space through painting and mixed media. She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine and Decorative Arts from Leeds University and an MA (Hons) in Interior Design from the Royal College of Art, London, as well as a Masters in Fine Art from Whitecliffe College, Auckland. She also earned a Certificate in Teaching Tertiary Education from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. She has had a number of exhibitions in Nelson, Auckland and Wellington. Barron was the winner of the Tasman National Art Award in 2016 and 2017 and a finalist for the Doig Art Award in Marlborough in 2018.