Side by Side: Elizabeth Anderson and Fiona Lee Graham

Elizabeth and Fiona met nearly 30 years ago while attending a life drawing session and have remained friends ever since. They’ve exhibited in many group shows individually and together, but this is the first time they will be exhibiting solely ‘Side by Side’.

Elizabeth Anderson
I studied and worked as a graphic designer, studied art in London and at Elam, Auckland and taught in secondary and primary schools in Auckland leaving to focus on practising art, painting and drawing. I currently go to three life drawing groups a week and draw as often as possible.

Drawing is my passion. Particularly drawing people. Drawing on a device is a relatively recent development in the last 4 or 5 years. I graduated to drawing on my iPad, from first attempts with my finger on my phone then with a squishy rubber-tipped stylus on a tablet. Making the jump to the iPad and it’s sleek stylus and multiple possibilities has been fantastic for the clarity and the range of drawing options. There are still an infinite number of choices to make.

Passing Clouds: 304 iPad drawings
There are three groups of drawings in this exhibition; life drawings, observations when out and about, mostly in local cafes and drawings done during lockdown. I hope you enjoy my drawings as much as I’ve enjoyed making them.

Fiona Lee Graham
Fiona Lee Graham completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design at Unitec in 2010.
Since graduating, as well as pursuing her painting practice, she has worked at North Art Gallery in Northcote till 2020 as a part time gallery assistant and manager of their children’s art programme.
She has been a finalist in several art awards including; Adam Portrait Award, Estuary Art Award, Wallace Art Awards, Parkin Drawing Prize, Molly Morpeth Award and the Painting & Printmaking Award.

Rite of Passage
In this series of works I am interested in focusing on the ‘Spiritual Journey’, I am drawn to the mysterious and unknown. When starting these works I haven’t had a fixed plan on how the work would look when completed but instead have tried to allow the subconscious to reveal itself through the creative process.

I do not wish to dictate what the work is about but instead let the viewer draw their own conclusions.
I have an ongoing interest in exploring the materiality and layering of paint.

Viewing or dropping in outside of public open hours available upon request.

Many thanks to our friends at Te Uru for lending us some extra walls. The Whau Local Board and our All Goods hirers who have helped us fund this exhibition.