“For me the process of art making is to pose questions - pushing to see what’s possible, running with the adventure, curious about the unknown and bringing the undiscovered into visual form.”
Marion Bright has been practicing art for over 18 years, exhibits regularly in Aotearoa New Zealand and is an active member of a number of art groups.
A sense of curiosity drives Bright in her art making to confront uncertainties during the exchange between materials and surface. Responding intuitively, the work embraces possibility and impermanence. An implied narrative alludes to a fleeting resonance, a chance encounter, relating to memory and experiences.
Bright is often influenced by the visual stimulation of travel, the experience of place.
Collaborations | professional affiliations | community activity
Groups currently engaging with - Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) Acting Chair, Plateau Printmakers group, Artful Minds art group, Creative Taupo and Creative Communities Scheme grant allocation committees and stakeholder participation in the Taupō District Council Arts & Culture Action Plan development.
Marion Bright is driven by an interest in making a difference and thrives on associations that provide new friendships and learning, while contributing to community and arts groups.
There is a certain type of magic that happens when a group of people come together with a common goal, such as organising an exhibition, allocating funds, running an organisation, advocating for the arts or supporting each other’s art practice.
Such engagement provides a chance to work with others and to grow by sharing skills and knowledge. It also combines exciting new challenges, leadership, energy and personal development.
Joint exhibition
2020
Beyond the Surface Taupō Museum and Art Gallery. An exhibition with Jacquie Goldsmith mixed media artist and ceramicist.
Group exhibitions
2023
Artful Minds exhibition, Lava Glass Gallery Taupō, Artful Minds.
Celebration: Two decades of printmaking, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum and Art Gallery, Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand Selector Dr Carole Shepheard.
2022
Artful Squared, Lava Glass Gallery Taupō, Artful Minds.
Impressions, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery, Plateau Printmakers alongside Line and Form, graphics collection by art dealer Peter Jarvis.
Small Print exhibition series, Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand
Various venues North and South Island
www.printcouncil.nz/small-print-2023
2021
Small Print exhibition series, Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand
Various venues North and South Island.
2018
Linking the Lakes, Taupō Winter Festival - exhibition
Print Matters: works on paper, ArtsPost Hamilton, Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) exhibition
2017
Beautiful Marks, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery, Taupō Art Connection
2016
Exhibition of Hope, Lake Taupō Hospice, Taupō Art Connection
Small Print, Print Council (PCANZ) travelling exhibition, Alfred Memelink Artspace Gallery Wellington, Taylor Jensen Gallery Palmerston North, ArtsPost Hamilton
Print still Works, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery, Plateau Printmakers
2015
Taupō Framed, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery
Common Ground, Community Arts Napier, Print Council (PCANZ) member exhibition
2014
Language of Line, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery
2006
NZ Affordable Art Show, Queen’s Wharf Events Centre, Wellington
Publication
2022
Featured in Proof: Two Decades of Printmaking Print Council Aotearoa
New Zealand, Massey University Press. A first survey of fine art printmaking in Aotearoa to be published in nearly 50 years, showcasing 166 works by 152 artists.
Scholarship
2014
Frank Davis Scholarship to complete study at The Learning Connexion, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Professional Development and Memberships
2023
Playbook, an online professional development course for emerging New Zealand visual artists, Deborah Crowe and Emil McAvoy
Articulating Practice, Dr Carole Shepheard, Summer School 2023, Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland
2022, 2021
Summer School print workshops, Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, Nelson, Hawkes Bay
2020
Mentoring Programme, Crowe Creative Art Services, Auckland, Mentored by Deborah Crowe
2020, 2018, 2017
Summer School print workshops, Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, Tauranga, Whanganui, Auckland
2019 - 2020
Taupō Museum & Art Gallery Group, advisory group for building redevelopment project, Taupō
2019
Introduction to Video Production Training Scheme, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, online course
2018
SHIFT: unpacking and moving your ideas around workshop, Deborah Crowe, Arts Whakatane
2017
ARTillery Creative Development workshops, Creative Waikato, Taupō, Thames, Tokoroa
Mokulito/Budkalito workshop, Art Print Residency, Arenys de Munt, Spain
2016
Creative Taupō and Creative Communities Scheme grants allocation committee, Taupō
Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) membership
Artists Alliance membership
2016 – 2018
Taupō Winter Festival visual arts competition & exhibition coordinator
2014 - 2018
Taupō Art Connection, Taupō membership
2014 – 2018
Taupō Art Connection governing committee, administrator/ coordinator, web, get-togethers, Art Trail, exhibitions, advocacy
Education
2015
Diploma in Art & Creativity, The Learning Connexion, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
2003
Access into Art & Design, Swindon College, Swindon, United Kingdom
Workshops
Loosen Up Non-traditional Drawing Techniques - two-day drawing course
Monotype Magic – 2 to 4 hour workshop