Several months back, I was contacted by the Italian curator of the Imago Mundi Benetton World Art Project, and asked to contribute a painting for their New Zealand collection.

They wanted 210 artists altogether (70 Maori and 140 non-Maori) and the paintings had to be all the same size – a very small 10 x 12cm – which would ultimately form part of a permanent collection of paintings from around the globe.

The New Zealand collection will be handed over formally to the Benetton Arts Foundation in Treviso, Italy on the 20th October, which will also mark the opening of the exhibition and launch of the accompanying book. From there, the collection will go on tour.

Painting on such a tiny scale is not really my forte, but I jumped at the chance to be involved with something so unique and it turned out to be a fun experience. Using acrylics, I created a brightly coloured background using various alternative tools, drips and splotches, then came in over the top with flat, graduated areas of green. I then took a palette knife and scraped away at some of the dried paint-work, creating a sense of ‘frayed’ edges; of edges lost and found.

I’m looking forward to seeing it, along with the other New Zealand art works, in the Imago Mundi book and I’ll be sure to pop a photo of how it looks on my blog once I receive it.