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 20^th 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.