Amalgam Art - Gabby Malpas

gabby malpas
portfolio 2014-2015
About the artist
Gabby Malpas is from Auckland, NZ,
a longtime resident of the UK and
has called Sydney home since 2003.
Gabby’s work has been exhibited
widely since 1987, in the UK, NZ and
now Australia. Her work is in private
and public art collections worldwide.
Although a world away from
her delicate watercolours,
it was a career path first stumbled
upon in London then chosen
as Gabby realized that a corporate
job would allow her to follow her
dream: to paint and create.
Originally trained in ceramics,
Gabby currently works as a digital
project manager for some of the
week and the rest of the time
is spent at her studio: the kitchen
table.
Photo of Gabby Malpas by Dylan Demarchi 2014
My story
I was adopted into a white family
as a baby. My parents were told
that my mother had been an artist
so it was decided that I would go
to art school.
I never questioned that decision
and feel extremely lucky that I had
my life goal mapped out for me
so early. However, dreams of
a full-time, artistic career on
leaving art school were put on
hold for a while as I worked
on learning skills and worked
my way up the corporate ladder
as the foundation for my creativity.
I still managed to paint and create
after hours, working towards
exhibitions and opportunities
to show.
In 2004, after a year in Australia,
I managed to trace and meet my
birth mother. This had a profound
effect on my work: after not
knowing my origins, I found out
I was ethnic Chinese.
Suddenly my work which had
always been colourful and
detailed, took on a serene, zen
and very Asian direction.
It was as if my world had turned
to create my full ‘zen circle’.
Ten years later, I continue to work
in this vein, refining and
experimenting as I go.
My creative process
My current materials of choice are:
watercolours, inks, paper and
sometimes canvas – I prefer the
watery delicacy that comes from
liquid colour – it’s a lot like working
with glazes (though a little more
‘controllable’). I call my technique:
‘moving the puddle’.
Influences in my work are diverse:
from Japanese woodcuts,
european chinoiserie and Indian
minatures to 17th/18th Century
Dutch still lifes, and the work of
Paul Klee, Henri Matisse,
Georgia O’Keefe and Elizabeth
Blackadder to name a few.
My works are images of things
I have bought, eaten and picked
in Sydney.
A joyful and chaotic assemblage
of blooms and fruit displayed with
a collection of ceramics from
anywhere and everywhere.
Although I revel in the beauty of
flora and fauna, I also I aim to put
a modern twist on the extravagant
Dutch still life genre: instead of rare
and exotic flowers, mine are blooms
picked and grown locally or
available from a greengrocer.
The priceless ceramics in Dutch
paintings are replaced with items
found in junk shops and yard sales
but painted with care and attention.
As watercolour is an unforgiving
medium, I plan my works by
drawing every single detail in
pencil first. This way, I am free to
‘move the puddle’ and concentrate
on colour and the effect of the paint,
rather than think about the drawing
or accuracy. There is a process of
research undertaken for each piece:
I try and accurately match insects or
birds to specific plants and study their
forms also to ensure accuracy.
I also include imperfections: insect
damage, discoloured or torn leaves/
fruit, to distance my work from the
purely ornamental.
I supplement my skills with regular
life drawing sessions.
Artist Resume
Awards:
Highly commended, Watercolour:
Blacktown City Art Prize
2011 & 2012
Press:
Gabby Malpas: Artist’s profile:
Australian Art Review:
Nov/Dec 2012: Issue 36
Selected to exhibit
James Kiwi Watercolour Prize
2012 & 2014
Artist’s profile
Lifestyle Asia Magazine 2012
Issue 200: www.xkb.com.au
Highly commended
Westmead Hospital Art Prize 2012
Finalist
Nora Heysen Centenary Art Prize –
Still life 2011
Selected to exhibit
National Trust Harper’s Mansion Art
Prize – Still life 2011
Hornsby Art Prize 2011
Licensing:
Hale imports, Australia:
Placemat and coaster sets since
2012
Blue Island Press, Australia:
Stationery items and fine art
calendars since 2013
Armuseli, Spain
Fashion garments since 2014
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
‘Where are you from?’, Platform72
October 2014
‘Bringing the Sydney Garden Inside’,
St Vincents Hospital
May 2013
Sydney Art Expo 2012/2013,
Fox Studios, Sydney
October 2012/2013
Sydney Art show 2011, Sydney
October 2011
‘Pictures to make you smile’
St Vincent’s Hospital,
March 2011
Art Sydney 2010,
Fox Studios, Sydney
November 2010
‘Sydney Pictures’,
Art at Home Gallery, Balmain, Sydney
February 2010
Art Sydney 2009, Fox Studios, Sydney
October 2009
Liberty Store Art gallery,
Regent St London
Oct-Dec 1997
Gabby Malpas: Christchurch Society
of Art Gallery, New Zealand
February 1992
Selected Group Shows:
Balmain Art & Craft Show,
Balmain, Sydney
November 2011, 2012 & 2014
‘Brush and Spitsticker’,
West Oxfordshire arts association
February 1993
I’ll Bring cake:
Gordon public Library, Sydney
July - Sept 2011
Art and craft New Zealand,
Llantarnam Grange, Cwmbran Wales
August 1992
Annual Plunket art exhibition
Aigantighe Art Gallery,
Timaru New Zealand
June 1994, 2010 & 2012
Summer show, Anna Mei Chadwick
Galleries, Parsons Green, London
August 1990 & 1991
Group Christmas show,
Pipper Graber, Dulwich, London
December 2002
‘Underwater escapade’,
Amalgam Art, Barnes London
March 1996
Amalgam Art Christmas show,
Amalgam Art, Barnes London
December 1993
Amalgam Summer show,
Amalgam Art, Barnes London
July 1991
Southland Potter’s annual
exhibition, Winton, New Zealand
May 1991
Timaru City Art Gallery annual
exhibition, Timaru, New Zealand
May 1990
Represented in NZ by the Print Shop
Gallery, Auckland, since 1987
ceramics
dinnerware
dinnerware
botanical
patterns
textile
coasters,
placemats & melamine
tea towel
Artworks & design
Gabby Malpas’ design can be licensed for:
• Ceramics: dinnerware and giftware
• Textiles: tea towels, table cloths, bed linen, scarves, cushions, fashion
garments
• Homewares: coaster and placemat sets, trays and melamine products
• Wallpaper
• Stationery items: cards, calendars, notebooks
Contact the
artist
Gabby Malpas
email: gabby@gabbymalpas.com
website: www.gabbymalpas.com
Social media
facebook: Gabby Malpas - Artist
Pinterest: Gabby Malpas
Instagram: Gabby Malpas
blog: mangofrooty.blogspot.com
gabby malpas
www.gabbymalpas.com
gabby@gabbymalpas.com