New Zealand artist, Kylie Rusk, resides in Muriwai, West Auckland and originally comes from Whangarei, Northland.

Kylie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland in 2007.  In her final year at Elam, Kylie was awarded the Hahnemuhle printmaking award.  Since completing her studies, Kylie has ehibited widely in solo and group ehibitions, primarily working in lithograph prints and acrylic on canvas board.

Inspired by the stirring natural beauty of Aotearoa’s magnificent landscapes, Rusk’s paintings and lithographs are an expansive and emotionally expressive illustration of her strong connection with the land. Feeling personally connected to her work is a vital aspect of her creative process, so she always visits and photographs a scene and then carefully transforms it into an original painting or lithograph.

An exploration of colour, form and texture, Rusk endeavours to produce paintings that encompass the majestic beauty of the land, together with the fragility and isolation of New Zealand’s more remote areas. Kylie’s personalised style of painting incorporates a variety of techniques including the building up of acrylic paint layers and washes to create mood and energy to give the image a real life of its own.

Rusk’s speciality is her lithography. This historic form of printmaking involves drawing, painting with tusche and etching onto stone, before printing the image on a lithography press. The art of using tusche is a tricky process due to the unpredictable nature of the paint. An artist can never know how it will dry, etch and print and that it is these features in which Rusk says “is a reflection of nature itself”.

Her rich and unique prints represent multi-layered seascapes, presented in a painterly and moody style. Rendered with warmth and sensitivity, each edition is limited in number ranging anywhere from 5 to 30 prints.

Since moving out to the seaside town of Muriwai, she is heavily inspired by the untamed power and beauty of the region.

Over the past ten years her work has been put on show at numerous exhibitions in a variety of locations, including Burning Issues Gallery in Whangarei, Seed Gallery, Grey Gallery and Lane Gallery in Auckland, The Art Depot Space in Devonport, and Waiheke Gallery.

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Website: www.kylierusk.co.nz