Colourfield: An Installation by Emma Prill

Emma Prill, Colourfield (detail), 2018

Colourfield: An Installation by Emma Prill

10 November 2018 - 24 February 2019

For Tauranga Art Gallery, local artist Emma Prill has created a botanical environment on an impressive scale. Growing from the walls of the Atrium space are sprays of colourful flowers that reflect the textures, colours, light and forms of a garden.

Working with community groups, who have attended gatherings, drop-in sessions and workshops, she has developed an installation that extends on her exploration of flowers and their symbolic relationships to travel and memory.

"Through working with the community I feel like Colourfield expresses a sense of celebration, festivity, and playfulness. It is the literal expression of many parts that make up the whole."

A truly intergenerational project involving people of all ages from 90 years old to 5 years old, Prill has established her own immersive community garden in the Gallery formed from layers of laser cut and hand cut cardboard and canvas.

Painted in bright, colourful designs, Colourfield references diverse imagery from Indian flower markets, frangipani in the jungle of Sri Lanka, the tropical gardens of the Pacific and the wildflowers often seen growing in fields and other greenspaces.

Artist Talk

Date: Saturday 1 December 2019

Where: Tauranga Art Gallery

When: 10.30am

Emma Prill will host a floor talk where she will be discussing the installation, her art practice and the process of developing the large scale work.

“Within this explosion of colour there are flower forms, leaf forms, negative and positive components, and large organic shapes collaged and layered onto the wall.”

Prill is an artist and educator based in Omokoroa, Bay of Plenty. She has exhibited her work New Zealand and internationally and has been a finalist of both the Miles Art Awards and the Molly Morpeth Art Awards.

This exhibition aligns with the Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Festival

Principal Exhibition Partner:

Support Partner: Legacy Trust

Colourfield: Work in Progress Photo