Stanley Palmer
New landscape paintings by esteemed artist Stanley Palmer continue to evoke his longstanding love affair with Aotearoa’s countryside—in particular where land meets the sea—portraying a harmony between nature and people. With adaptive brushwork and tonal shifts in his now-signature colour palette, Stanley captures the magical quality of Aotearoa’s light—from the clarity of a summer’s day late-morning to the softness of an early autumnal dusk—and its effect on everything it touches. Stanley’s scenes not only reflect places that he connects with personally but also characterise quintessential Aotearoa New Zealand, reminiscent of home and holidays.

Layla Walter
Featuring at The Central Art Gallery for the first time are a selection of beautifully handcrafted cast glass vessels by glass artist Layla Walter. Inspired by the flora and birdlife of Aotearoa, with current works influenced by overseas travel. The sculpted detail in Layla’s forms project outward from the curved surface of each piece. Her newer works incorporate more personal elements—impressions of a crocheted blanket by the artist’s mother, parts of the artist’s own body—as Layla creates visual connections between herself and her work.

Kirstin Carlin
New paintings by Kirstin Carlin are bursting with colour, movement and life as she paints remembered landscapes—‘grown’ from fields and gardens she has visited or seen in photos, books, and historical paintings. Titled Somersault, this series of paintings was created after the winter flooding in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland—when the artist had spring and summer on her mind—and while watching her son practice somersaults, attempting to land on his feet. Kirstin felt an analogy between her son’s repetitive hurling and flipping through the air with her own painting practise as she moved back and forth in connection to her paintings, always practicing and perfecting one work to the next.

All three artists are based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.