Idyll: Tori Beeche, Gavin Chai, brunelle dias

Tori Beeche (b. 1972, Aotearoa) lives and works in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau. Beeche has a Master of Fine Art from University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts (2020). Her work has been included in the finalist exhibitions for the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award (2021), New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award (2020), and the Sunshine Coast Art Prize (2018). Recent exhibitions include Iteration 14 at MOTHERMOTHER, Auckland (2022); UNSEEN at The Tuesday Club, Auckland (2022); Spaces of Synchronicity at Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland (2021); and RESIST at Allpress Studio Gallery, Auckland (2021). Beeche’s paintings emerge through a process of extracting poetic moments from historical image archives interwoven with Beeche’s personal memories and imaginings. Often reflecting the artist’s own Scandinavian heritage, the works are imbued with a nostalgic longing.

Gavin Chai (b. 1997, Malaysia) is based in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau. Chai has a Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry) from Unitec Institute of Technology (2016) and a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology (2020). He was recently the recipient of the Zinni Douglas Merit award, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Community Art Gallery (2021) and was the first artist to ever receive three awards at the Cleveland National Art Awards, Otago Art Society (2021). Recent exhibitions include the Adam Portraiture Award Touring Exhibition (2019), Character Study: the figure in action and inaction, Arts in Oxford, Oxford (2019); and Accept each word spoken with love, Northart, Auckland (2019); and Blue and White, Northart, Auckland (2018). His works are held in collections including Porirua City Council, The Stevenson Collection, and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. Chai captures everyday contemporary experiences through his careful composition and deft treatment of colour, light, and shadow. His detailed paintings of interior and domestic scenes are suffused with a particular psychological or spiritual charge.

brunelle dias (b. 1998, India) has a Master of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology School of Art and Design (2021). Based in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, her recent exhibitions include Penthouse, Webb’s, Auckland (2022); The Local Migrant, RM Gallery, Auckland, (2022); At first Glance, Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland (2021); Master of Visual Arts Graduating Exhibition, St Paul Street Gallery 3, Auckland (2021); Lively Collisions, Demo, Auckland (2020), and Have you seen Mark?, St Paul’s Gallery, Auckland (2019). dias was a finalist in the Eden Arts’ Art School Award and her work is held in the Auckland University of Technology Collection. Through her fluid, large-scale paintings the artist captures transient moments between friends and family, offering poignant or humorous reflections on the nature of intimacy. dias often looks to the complexity of life as a first-generation immigrant to Aotearoa and the navigation of identity and belonging.