Elizabeth Rees is a dedicated painter. She wrestles with paint and makes it articulate what she wants it to say. What we see when the painting process is complete and the exhibition is up on the wall, is a body of paintings that describe the artist’s sense of place in intricate yet simply rendered detail.

Each landscape or figure study is a moment in time, like a photograph, and captures the passing light and the frozen moment. And so there is a sense of privilege for the viewer - as if the artist is finding and revealing secret or special places where light is just so, and timing is everything.

Rees’ painted marks shift on a continuum of gesture - from the sometimes raw and immediate, to the sometimes refined and unfolding. She utilises her mastery of paint to express changes of mood and light by adapting her technique to suit her subject.

This exhibition showcases a broad spectrum of Rees work from the past six years. Range Road I (2005), Fence Line (2005), are two examples of Rees' bold and expressive recent work. These are based on the magnificence of the South Island landscape. The exhibition also includes figure studies that convey the caught moment and the random and chance nature of experience. Also featured are some of the simple colour palette landscapes of 2003–2004, which show a brooding timelessness, and a true finesse in the handling of paint.