A well established group for artists within tHE community.

Member of River City Artists

Question: Tell us something about your painting story, for example, how long have you been painting? Why and how did you start? Where have you exhibited your artworks?

Vivian: I enjoyed looking at paintings since I was a child, but I never picked up a brush until my late forties. My brother used to paint and had a collection of art history books and oil painting books. When I was a little girl, if I was sick and stayed in bed, he would show me some paintings as my therapy. I still remember when I saw Camille Corot’s painting ‘Souvenir of Mortefontaine’ for the first time, I was immersed in a wonderful dream and felt tranquil and romantic. When I had a daughter, I took her to after-school painting classes, visited art galleries, and saw her growing up being an artist and graphic designer. But I never thought of being a painter myself. I thought it was the privilege of art school students.

In 2016, not long after I accompanied my New Zealand husband to move back to his home country from Hong Kong, I found out that there was a local art group nearby. After visiting Otane art group’s annual exhibition, I wanted to give it a go myself. I picked up brushes for the first time and joined the Otane art group. There I learned to paint. Later I joined Marton art group, and ‘River City Artists’.

It’s been ten years. I exhibited in Hastings, Waipukurau, Otane, Palmerston North, Whanganui, Marton, Feilding, Bulls and Mangaweka. My portraits have been selected for the 2022 and 2025 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review, exhibiting at Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui. In April 2026 I exhibited my new body of work ‘Moments’ at Space Studio & Gallery in Whanganui. This solo exhibition marks a milestone in my journey of finding my own artistic language and voice.

Question: How would you describe your unique art style, how it has changed over time, and how it represents your identity?

Vivian: I am still on the journey of discovering my unique art style. It has changed a lot over time, but people have always been my favorite subject, and I always like heavy, textured applications of paint.

When I grew up in China, my generation was strongly influenced by modern western culture, such as books, movies, music and paintings. I didn’t appreciate Chinese traditional paintings. Only after I moved to New Zealand, I started to re-discover and embrace traditional Chinese culture, including Chinese painting, calligraphy, and Taichi. Chinese painting emphasizes capturing the spirit rather than just the form, and uses lines to express emotion, texture, and movement. I also study artworks from other cultures such as Egyptian and Greek to learn from ancient wisdom.

Recently my painting style tended to move from representing what I see to expressing what I feel. Sometimes it is achieved by the use of lines, exaggerated forms, or expressive colours.

Question: Who and what has been your biggest artistic influence? What is your inspiration?

Vivian: There are many artists I like, and the list is always changing and expanding. For watercolour, I love John Singer Sargent’s bold and seemingly spontaneous brushwork; for oil paintings, Matisse, Gauguin and Edward Hopper are always on the list. Currently I am obsessed with expressionism artists.

My inspiration usually comes from life experience. Travel, go to local activities, read books, something will come to my mind and trigger the urge to make a painting.

Question: What are you working on next? And what is your creative process?

Vivian: I am planning for my next body of work. My subject will be people in various activities, such as dancing, playing music, playing sports games, shearing, farming… Currently I use sketchbooks to study, experiment and explore. I give myself permission to make ugly pictures on sketchbooks, in the hope that the right composition/ colours/ style will emerge in some stage. Once I get it right, I’ll paint almost every day at my home studio.

Question: What do you like about River City Artists group?

Vivian: Diversity is essential to an art group. Members in RCA use various mediums and everyone has their own different styles. The group has an environment that encourages studying and experimenting. I especially enjoyed the Group Art Exercise. Everyone used the same photo as an inspiration to create their own artwork. I am inspired by other artists through this exercise and learned the beauty of various mediums.