Promising young artist Dwayne Duthie is set to showcase his first art show outside of his home region of Taranaki.
Duthie has an exhibition at Aratoi from October 28 to December 3, in part because he hopes it will encourage other young artists to exhibit their work in many different galleries.
Duthie’s exhibition, titled ‘Double Edge Sword’, represents his ideas and thoughts on the intricacies of the human condition, survival, and existence through paintings incorporating strong strokes of enamel and acrylic.
With only six years of art experience under his belt, Duthie said that although he loved “messing around with art”, he never thought he’d make a career out of it.
“I worked in galleries around Taranaki and built-up loads of experience. I decided to pick up a paintbrush and follow my passion; I wanted to make art, not just hang it.”
Duthie said that, over the past six years, he has watched his paintings evolve, from experimenting with expressionism to now describing his current work as “quite abstract.”
“I have six paintings that I’ve created with enamel-based paint. They are a mix of expressionist, realism and abstraction. Each painting also has a sculpture that matches it. I find using different mediums can convey the different meanings behind the works.”
A lot of hard work has gone into his personal and artistic development, with one of his works, titled ‘High and Mighty’, taking more than six months to create.
“For High and Mighty, I used two separate panels and worked with enamel paint. This painting shows the human desire to acquire power and influence. I’ve used downward strokes to represent the burden on that influence is passed down to people who aren’t in power.
“I work on three different paintings at a time. I never plan, I just have an idea in my head and then I start painting,” he said.
Double Edge Sword features 17 works, 11 from Duthie’s most recent exhibition in the Percy Thompson Gallery in Taranaki, alongside six new works.
“I hope that the younger artists in the region are inspired and that I can show them that they are capable of accomplishing solo shows too.
“You don’t always need to be hugely experienced or have decades of years of work under your belt to do this; just give it a go.”
