Biography

Gemma Campbell is an award winning NZ contemporary represenational artist.  Born in Oamaru in 1983, she was raised in a large, artistic family and her natural aesthetic in art was honed from an early age.

Gemma trained as a graphic designer and illustrator and worked for advertising agencies in both NZ and Australia before returning home to live in Oamaru with her husband & two young children - but more recently relocated to Dunedin where she lives & works from her home studio.

Self reflection is a recurring theme throughout Campbells work.  Personal thoughts, feelings & memories are important components in her life and work.  With a love of intriguing narratives, Gemma manages to capture a contained, but dramatic moment in time.  This artist's work comes from her love of classical portraiture combined with her own personal experiences and background.  Campbell has a clear appreciation for refined technique that evokes the past whilst delivering a resolutely modern viewpoint. 

A predominantly self-taught artist, Gemma has developed her own unique style.  Her paintings are painstakingly created with many thin layers of paint that reveal an incredible amount of detail and beautiful palette. Natural elements - birds, reptiles, insects & animals feature prominently, creating a visual vocabulary that is once familiar & evocative.

Whilst her style leans towards realism, Gemma transcends the genre by offering glimpses of parallel realities - subtle, surreal narratives that invite viewers to interpret and reflect - there's often a delicate interplay between the everyday and the dreamlike - children & animals unite in richer-than-real moments that seem suspended in time.

Following back-to-back sell-out exhibitions at The Artist's Room Gallery - we are thrilled once again to offer our clients and collectors the opportunity to view & acquire Gemma's latest artworks - painting's and one-off etching plates which continue her on-going dialogue between classical form & contemporary introspection.

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"Sometimes I suspect that I view the world differently to others.  My paintings are interpreted differently by each viewer.  I find that very special and don't feel the need to put myself into the experience, but join with them in observation and wonder".