JUDY WOODS
Judy Woods spent 15 years teaching art after graduating from Otago Polytechnic School of Fine Arts in 1985. It wasn't until 2016 that she threw herself back into creating her own work, spending a year exploring painting intuitively, experimenting with different techniques and media. She now produces work inspired by life as a whole, with its unpredictability and accidents that are reflected in the mark-making and collage in her paintings.
Judy has seen a great deal of success since 2019 when she began picking up awards in a number of national art competitions, including first place at the 2020 Walker and Hall Art Awards and the 2020 Taranaki National Art Awards. In 2021, Judy has had international success taking first place at the Art2Life exhibition in the US.
"I don’t want my work to be literal. I want it to be interpreted by the viewer as they bring their perspective to it, and experience surprise by unpredictable combinations of the accidental and intentional; the laboured and freemarks, in paint and mixed media. When these combinations culminate in a rich balance that is satisfying and holds the viewer’s attention I feel the painting is complete." - Judy Woods