GABBY MALPAS

Gabby’s watercolours are intricate portrayals of blended cultures and beautiful objects. Locally grown fruit and flowers picked and bought near-by are rendered with a warmth and intimacy, forming a conversation between the rarefied, patterned flora that decorates the Chinese ceramics and Malaysian batik fabrics within her images.

I am a graduate of the Otago School of Fine Arts, Dunedin NZ, working in watercolour on paper and canvas.  I am Chinese.  I was born in NZ in 1966 and raised by a white family.  I identify with British, NZ and Australian culture though my appearance and images say otherwise. 

My work is a true amalgamation of European and Chinese aesthetics.  They are a joyful celebration of colour and nature from a unique perspective but with stories and messages that draw the viewer in for a closer look.

I am challenging the genre of Chinoiserie with my own narraative.

To see paintings please click on the images below: