Based in Te Hau Kapua Devonport in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, my abstract art practice engages with place, space, time, colour and materiality. The drawn-paintings’ texturally-rich, excavated and striated surfaces speak to ancientness, the hidden, the unseen.
My research poses the question of what it means to be a contemporary artist living and working in Aotearoa New Zealand, with diasporic Irish heritage seeing and understanding place and memory via the lens of an art practice. During the period of my PhD study I am undertaking this research here in Aotearoa New Zealand and in Eire Ireland.
Works are made with oil paint that is mixed with beeswax (called cold wax medium, i.e. not encaustic) allowing for a low-toxic practice resulting in ephemeral, textural works. Techniques such as scratching, sgraffito, multiple ways of making marks with various types of wet and dry media and an ability to create visual and actual depth with ethereal surfaces all accrue to the final work. That my practice is as organic as possible is a major element.
I am a member of the MotherMother collective, a group that celebrates women and non-binary artists - https://www.mothermother.co.nz/
This website is a living portfolio rather than a shopfront, however works are available for sale. If you are interested in any please email me on Janet.mazenier@gmail.com or use the contact form below. Works no longer available are tagged NLA.
Work is currently available for purchase at Depot Artspace in Te Hau Kapua Devonport - https://depot.org.nz/whats-on/depot-shop/ and at NorthArt as part of the recent MotherMother residency that is connected to the Abstraxt exhibition - https://www.northartgallery.net/-exhibitions. In January 2024 work was shown with two other artists in an exhibition called Fluid Becoming at Silo6 on the Viaduct in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland - https://fluidbecoming.org.
Awarded a three-year Scholarship I started my PhD in Creative Practice in February 2023. 14 works were installed outside at NZ Sculpture on the Shore in November 2023 - https://nzsculptureonshore.co.nz/collections/janet-mazenier and recent group shows in 2023 include Depot Artspace Physical Traces: mapping with detail in conjunction with Dr. Sarah Treadwell - https://depot.org.nz/event/physical-traces-mapping-with-detail/, Mothermother The Table (Auckland Art Fair) and MotherMother NorthArt Suburbia.
Works are held in private and public collections (including tertiary institutions) in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.
Instagram: @janetmaz
CV
Based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, I am currently a PhD candidate in creative practice at Auckland University of Technology with submission due in February 2026.
Significant exhibitions that my work has been included in during 2023-24 (thusfar) are:
- Green. (2024). A medium-sized work (Aged) included as part of this exhibition at Lot 23 with MotherMother Collective based in residence at NorthArt until the end of 2024. More information – https://www.mothermother.co.nz/iterations/green
- Fluid Becoming. (2024). A body of work of 23 small and large works in 2 of the 6 silos alongside Dr. Alysn Midgelow-Marsden & Mette Hay. More information - https://fluidbecoming.org/
- PhD Candidature Review. (2023). A body of work of 12 paintings as part of AUT’s candidature review in October 2023. This review was successful. I can provide further information if required (10,000 word thesis supporting candidature).
- Physical Traces, Mapping with Detail. (2023). A body of work of 11 paintings as part of a two person show with Dr. Sarah Treadwell. More information - https://depot.org.nz/event/physical-traces-mapping-with-detail/
- Burnished. (2023). A body of work of 14 paintings displayed as part of NZ Sculpture on the Shore, Takapuna. More information - https://nzsculptureonshore.co.nz/collections/janet-mazenier
- Suburbia. (2023). One work (Urban Creep) included as part of MotherMother Collective’s exhibition at NorthArt. More information - https://www.mothermother.co.nz/iterations/suburbia
- The Table. (2023). One work (Burnished) included as part of MotherMother Collective’s exhibition at the Aotearoa Art Fair. More information - https://www.mothermother.co.nz/iterations/aaf2023
Awards and Competitions
2024 Waikato Painting & Printmaking Award, Main Prize (winner) Painting
2023 AUT Vice Chancellor doctoral scholarship
2023 Craig’s Aspiring Art Prize, finalist
2022 National Contemporary Art Award, finalist
2021 Estuary Art Awards, “people’s choice” candidate
2020 Estuary Art Awards, finalist
2019 Estuary Art Awards, finalist
2017 Molly Morpeth Canaday, finalist
2017 Waikato Printmaking and Painting awards, finalist
2016 Cliftons Art Prize, competition finalist, painting, Auckland
2016 Finalist, Parkin Drawing Award, New Zealand
2015 Cliftons Art Prize, competition finalist, painting, Auckland
2014 North City Plaza “unleashed” art competition finalist, painting, Porirua
2014 Pātaka Friends Art Awards, finalist, Porirua
2013 Pātaka Friends Art Awards, finalist, Porirua
2013 Cliftons Art Prize, competition finalist, painting, Auckland
2009 Guardians of Pāuatahanui Inlet – photo competition, finalist, Porirua
2008 East Arts Awards – winner “new artist” category, painting, Auckland
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Confirmation of Candidature PhD, AUT
2023 Installed body of work at Murray & Co, corporate offices, Auckland
2023 Burnished, a 14 work exhibition as part of NZ Sculpture on the Shore, Fort Takapuna
2022 The Places We Tread, Space Gallery, Whanganui
2019 The River Runs Deep, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland
2016 Leveraged, DepotArtspace, Devonport, Auckland
2014 Emerging Light Gallery, Plimmerton, Porirua
2008 Essence, Gallery 1847 Pāuatahanui, Pāuatahanui, Porirua
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Wrinkled rocks, oily swamps, a honeyed surge of matter, Toi Gallery, Pātaka, Porirua with Dr. Sarah Treadwell, Feb-March
2024 Members show, NorthArt, Auckland, January
2024 Green MotherMother, Lot 23, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, January
2024 Fluid Becoming: 3 person show at Silo6 with Alysn Midgelow-Marsden & Mette Hay, January
2023 30th anniversary group show, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, Auckland, November
2023 Physical Traces, mapping with detail, Depot with Dr. Sarah Treadwell, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, September
2023 The Table, MotherMother collective at Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland, March
2023 Suburbia, MotherMother collective at NorthArt, Auckland, May
2022 Inspired Flagstaff Gallery November, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, Auckland, October
2022 Witness, Sustainable Coastlines Auckland, October
2022 Art in the Park Auckland, September
2022 Lockdown Special, Iteration 14: MotherMother, Auckland, January
2021 Group show, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, October
2021 Tutors & staff show, Kumeu Arts, Auckland, August
2021 Spaces of Synchronicity, Uxbridge, Auckland, March-April
2021 Is it real, is it true? 3 person show, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, May
2021 Art in the Park, Eden Park, Auckland, July
2020 Love your Maunga, Maungauika, Te Hau Kapua Devonport for America’s Cup
2020 Socially distanced, yet creatively connected, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, Auckland
2020 Drawn In, Kumeu Arts Centre, Auckland
2019 Be Happy, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport, Auckland
2018 Inner Landscapes, three person exhibition at Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport
2018 Flagstaff Gallery 25 year anniversary group show, Te Hau Kapua Devonport
2018 Open call, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville
2018 Opus international artist collective. Las Vegas Art Fair, United States
2017 The Art of Bringing Together, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport
2017 The Art Room Extended, Depot Artspace, Te Hau Kapua Devonport
2016 The Other Side Of Being, October, Flagstaff Gallery, Te Hau Kapua Devonport
2015 Graduate Exhibition, Whitecliffe School of Art & Design, Auckland
2015 Fast Food, Whitecliffe, year 4 BFA, Auckland
2014 We Are Three, Whitecliffe, Advanced Diploma Fine Arts, Auckland
2014 Con-Fluent poetry-art collaboration, Porirua
2012 Artbourne, Eastbourne, Wellington
2012 Mana Art Society members show, Porirua
2011 Art to Go, NZ Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington
2010 NZ Art Show, Wellington
2010 Artbourne, Eastbourne, Wellington
2009 Local Colour Red, Pātaka, Porirua
2009 NZ Art Show, Wellington
2008 Thistle Hall, Wellington
2008 NZ Academy of Fine Arts, Summer exhibition, Wellington
Residencies
2024 Burren College of Art, Co. Clare, Ireland, April-May
2024 Cill Rialaig, Co. Kerry, Ireland, March
2016 Depot Artspace Gallery, Auckland, April
Education
2023-2026 PhD Creative Practice, Auckland University of Technology
2021 Elam, Master of Fine Arts (First Class Hons), University of Auckland
2015 Whitecliffe School of Art & Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Auckland
Contact
Please fill in the form below, to enquire about my work or to attend a workshop.
I teach Painting with Cold Wax Medium workshops throughout New Zealand.
Depot Artspace Whare Toi in Te Hau Kapua Devonport - Introduction to cold wax medium workshop 30 Nov-1 Dec. All materials supplied, cost $280. Please email me to book. Janet.Mazenier@gmail.com.
Painting with a beeswax medium (called cold wax painting) allows you to build up layers with a fast-drying medium that gives you a surface to paint, draw, carve and create textured surfaces. Cold wax medium (CWM) allows you to do all this and more. CWM is a versatile medium that, when mixed with paint or pigment can create vibrancy and patina, translucence and opacity in your work.
More information about painting with CWM can be found at this link - https://gamblincolors.com/cold-wax-painting/ Note the advice from Gamblin that while most painters use panels for CWM, it is possible to paint on stretched and unstretched canvas with the addition of certain products to retain a degree of flexibility, thus ensuring there is no cracking.
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Abstract Paintings
News
On 16 January 2024 I showed work with two other artists (Alysn Midgelow-Marsden and Mette Hay) in an exhibition called Fluid Becoming at Silo6 on the Viaduct in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland - https://fluidbecoming.org