Combining paint and film

Press, 18 May 1988, Page 22

Combining paint and film

“I paint pictures, I don’t explain them.” Jane Zusters is uncomfortable when talking about her work, it is not that she does not want to discuss it — rather she does not want to impose her interpretation on anyone else.

Instead she would prefer to let people make up their own minds about the 14 works she has on display in her latest exhibition at the Brooke-Gifford Gallery.

They are the product of the last four months, spent in her studio on

Waiheke Island. She says the solitude of Waiheke has allowed her to create more complex images because she is not distracted from her work. The works in the exhibition include collages of photographs and paint, and she has added a sculptural dimension to her paintings.

A photographer as well as a painter, she believes future work will continue the mix of photographs and painting. “I paint because I enjoy it. It is my obsession — art. If I must do something I want to paint.”

Zusters trained at the Ilam School of Fine Arts. In the years after her graduation she worked in photography and etching. In 1979 she began exploring ceramics as a medium. In Auckland, she has supervised mural projects of ceramic and painted work. In 1984 she went to Italy, her fare paid by the Montana Art Award she had won.

Zusters says her inspiration for works comes from her life and everyday happenings. “I just paint what interests me.” Since 1980 she has had

an annual solo show. She previously exhibited at the Brooke-Gifford Galleyr in 1985. Her photographs have been published and are in collections including that at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

Zusters says she will continue to use her studio on Waiheke Island and continue to explore painting. as a medium. “I’m interested in colour and paint and in a painterly statement ...”

Her present exhibition will end on May 27. —Kay Forrester