John McLean: Clues & Whispers

Born in Hamilton New Zealand in 1944, John McLean began a career as a teacher but at the age of 30 pursued his passion for art. John was fortunate to receive mentorship from artist Michael Smither and has exhibited regularly since 1977. Now based in New Plymouth, John and his wife Chris live together on a self sufficient lifestyle block along the Mimi River where he allows his love of the environment and the rural life to inform his painting and writing.

“In this exhibition of works on paper I had the opportunity to use mixed media in a variety of ways. My usual art practice is to work towards something I haven’t yet identified, so these images are developed from abstract origins, in which the figurative content gradually reveals itself in a process of discovery rather than predilection. This gave rise to the title of the exhibition, Clues and Whispers, in that the subject matter is an intuited response to the abstract field from which it is drawn.”

“The images themselves continue my pre-occupation with ‘characters’ being employed in an archetypal manner, as visual metaphors for fundamental aspects of the human condition and types of perception. These images are designed to be fanciful and open-ended. They are subjects for the viewer’s musings:  just as it was in the process of my own musings that brought them into being.”

ARTIST TALK CLOSING EVENT

Join John for a relaxed afternoon artist talk on Saturday 9 July at 2.00pm. John will talk about the development of this body of work and his creative process.

This is a free event however an RSVP is appreciated to info@solandergallery.co.nz