UPCOMING EXHIBITION | FACE FORWARD | Group Portrait Show | 14 - 30 August 2025
FACE FORWARD is a dynamic group exhibition that explores the evolving language of portraiture in contemporary art. Featuring a diverse selection of artists from around New Zealand, this exhibition brings together an eclectic mix of styles, techniques, and mediums to present fresh perspectives on the human face and figure.
From realist to abstract, each work on display reveals a distinct approach to capturing identity, emotion, and presence. Some portraits challenge traditional aesthetics through bold distortions or surreal compositions, while others delve into themes of memory, cultural identity, and self expression. The exhibition includes work on canvas, panel, paper, and textile.
FACE FORWARD invites viewers to reflect on how we see ourselves and each other in an age of constant transformation. By celebrating both the universality and uniqueness of the human form, this exhibition underscores portraiture’s enduring relevance and its power to connect across time, culture, and experience.
FEATURING: ALICE FENNESY / HELENA SKERLJ-ROVERS / JAMES SWEETING / JOHN BOYD DUNLOP / KIRSTEN LOVELOCK / LAURETTE LOOKER / ROBYN FLEET / SHARON DUYMEL / TOM ARMSTRONG
ALICE FENNESY
Based in Te Papaioea, Palmerston North, Alice Fennesy uses drawing and painting to explore memory, domestic life, and the interior worlds shaped by motherhood. Her work draws on the dualities of maternal experience, beauty and discomfort, tenderness and tension, capturing fleeting moments through stark compositions on paper, silk, or aluminium. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from Massey University CoCA, she balances her practice with teaching secondary school art.
HELENA SKERLJ-ROVERS
Helena Skerlj-Rovers is a Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland based artist working across painting and textiles. Her practice is rooted in abstract expressionism, driven by an exploration of colour, gesture, and materiality. Recently, she has expanded into tufted rug-making, blending her love of craft with surreal, figurative imagery. These works explore dreamscapes, nostalgia, and imagined worlds, drawing influence from American Outsider and Folk art. Helena holds a BFA (Hons) from Elam School of Fine Arts.
JAMES SWEETING
James Sweeting is a self taught visual artist from Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland. His works explore themes of nostalgia, commemoration and the internal world through a mostly figurative approach ranging from traditional portraiture to more expressive and dynamic techniques. He is primarily interested in the human form and movement and how the use of movement and abstraction within different mediums can contribute to storytelling.
JOHN BOYD DUNLOP
John Boyd Dunlop is a self-taught visual artist based in Te Matau-a-Maui, Napier. Beginning his creative journey at the age of 68, John has developed a bold, intuitive practice that draws from a rich inner world and a life well lived. His work is playful, imaginative, and unapologetically eccentric, often depicting humans and animals in exuberant, at times absurd arrangements. Frequently described as Naïve Art, Outsider Art, or Art Brut, his paintings defy categorisation but embrace a raw vitality and a keen sense of humour.
KIRSTEN LOVELOCK
Kirsten Lovelock is a Wellington based artist with roots in Dunedin, crafting evocative works that bridge personal memory, dreamlike states, and the metaphysical. A self-taught painter, she embraces the spontaneous and the symbolic, letting her pieces emerge organically rather than following a premeditated path. Since her first exhibition in 2003, her paintings have become part of private collections both in New Zealand and internationally.
LAURETTE LOOKER
Based in West Auckland, Laurette is a self-taught artist working primarily in acrylics. Her intuitive portraits of contemporary female figures embrace bold colour, softness and quiet strength, rendered in a naïve, expressive style. Influenced by the rhythms of motherhood, her work reflects a search for solitude, identity and connection amidst the intimacy of daily life. Drawing inspiration from natural surroundings and everyday objects, Laurette’s paintings favour atmosphere over narrative, offering space for stillness, reflection and personal interpretation.
ROBYN FLEET
Robyn Fleet is a Hawke’s Bay based artist working primarily with oil paint and oil sticks. Her practice explores the human condition through an open-ended, intuitive approach that embraces the materiality of paint. Robyn’s work invites reflection on identity and perception, inspired by a vision of a world where character transcends appearance. She holds a Bachelor of Art and Design from Ideaschool (EIT) and has been exhibiting her work since 2013.
