The Colonist Painting

Justin Summerton was born in the Wirral , North West England, in 1968. In 1971 his family emigrated to New Zealand, where he lives presently. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree (1987) and a Bachelor of Arts degree (1993) at the University of Otago. In 1990, Summerton had a studio flat at St Clair Esplanade, Dunedin, where he experimented with oils, working mainly on seascapes. The following year, he had his first solo exhibition. Summerton is painter who depicts a dreamlike world in his work, often presenting New Zealand as a primeval landscape. In his work, Summerton reveals a fascination with New Zealand natural elements, such as the sea, volcanic cones, mountains and cloud formations, which constitute the basis of his work. His latest paintings have been described as inhabiting "a strange milieu halfway between representational landscape and surrealist dreamscape." The artist makes the landscapes his own, by rearranging and/or adapting them to his vision, obeying to symbolic or allegorical purposes. The surrealist painter favours a utopian New Zealand: "Most of my art is related to the ecology of the world," Summerton says. "I'm not a hippy, greenie painter who rants on, but maybe I am an environmentalist. New Zealand is a bit of an oasis like that and I've had that theme running through my work for a while." "Summerton’s works harness the raw energy of New Zealand landforms and coast lines through the texture of his paint. He captures and intensifies this power with layers upon layers of dense oils, culminating in a landscape that is far from traditional, and so referring to New Zealand landscape with a fresh perspective." At a recent solo show of his paintings, his technique was described as "scrumbling", a "brushstroke technique to build layers of colour and texture onto the canvas surface. This approach tends to modify rather than obscure the previous layer and creates stark contrast between dark and light pigments. The overall result is a fresh and vibrant new view of the New Zealand landscape." According to Warwick Henderson Gallery administrator Pania Lincoln, "his intensive application of oils builds layers of colour and texture that give the works a visual and literal 3-dimentional [sic] quality that is unique." Justin feels a particular affinity with the New Zealand coastline and beaches, spending much of his time in the water as a passionate surfer.