Salome Tanuvasa, Encompass, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 123 x 103cm. Courtesy: the artist and Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland.

In a recent conversation with Salome Tanuvasa I asked what she had been reading and thinking about as she prepared for our exhibition.

“Matisse. I’ve been looking at his colours and shapes and how he would paint fabrics and textiles, and the things he could see from his window.”

She showed me a photo on her phone of a painting in her studio.
She described its design as having been inspired by a Matisse textile.
The motif looked oddly familiar and I realised, suddenly, that I’d seen (and photographed) the painting, Matisse’s La Blouse Romain, on a recent visit to the Pompidou Centre in Paris. A good omen!

Towards the end of his life Henri Matisse (1869-1954) made works known as papiers decoupés – painted sheets of paper cut into different sizes and shapes and arranged into vibrant compositions. He described the practice as “drawing with scissors”.

Tanuvasa writes: “I’ve used stencils and cut-outs to make these new works too. My paintings communicate an intuitive sense of the places where I find joy – in my home and with my family. For me the colours and spaces in my paintings hold moments of joy.”

– Tim Melville, 2024.

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