Artist Statement & CV

Jade Barclay is a self taught artist creating from her home studio in rural Queenstown, New Zealand.

Jade’s distinctive paintings are inspired by Mother Nature and the feminine form, celebrating our deep-rooted connection to the natural world. Her immediate surroundings in Aotearoa and the experience of life itself are evident in her work — drawing on the muse both as it appears and as it feels. Her art moves between the tangible and the ethereal.

Blending acrylic, mixed media, and oil stick, her paintings invite you to savour life’s quiet beauty through earthy palettes, organic strokes, and the raw harmony of rustic textures and lines.

Both physical and emotional journeys — to the peaks, depths, and quiet corners of the land — shape Jade’s creative process. Her background in holistic nutrition, women’s wellness, and psychology deepens this exploration, offering meaning that goes beyond the surface.

Each painting connecting you back to nature, and back to yourself.

The Process

My process begins with spending time in nature, as well as drawing from the experience of life itself. I begin with sketches, working on composition and colour, and then move to the easel, where I follow the work’s inspired source, loosening its grasp on reality. The work shifts into something more intuitive - telling a deeper story that moves beyond the purely visual. I explore this using feminine (and sometimes masculine) forms, lines, loose strokes, texture, and written words.

I create from my home studio and, when I can, out in nature - in my local backyard of the Southern Alps. When possible I like to photograph the completed works in nature once finished, completing the circle - a return to where they began.

Each work is a message to myself, and so to all of us.

CV

Representation of Original Works

— Current - Ashe Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand 

— Current - Kina Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand 

— 2024 - The Little Gallery, Whangamata, New Zealand

Awards

— 2025 - Best Local Painting Award / Arrowtown Autumn Festival Art Exhibition, Lakes District Art Gallery

— 2023 - Peoples Choice Award / Inside Outside Inbetween Exhibition, Te Atamira

Exhibitions

— 2026 - Kina Gallery / Held by the Land Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2026 - Lakes District Art Gallery / Autumn Festival Art Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2025 - Lakes District Art Gallery / Autumn Festival Art Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2024 - Lakes District Art Gallery / Autumn Festival Art Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2024 - Te Atamira / Laneway Showcase (Group Showcase)

— 2024 - Te Atamira / Winter Tale Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2023 - Te Atamira / Inside Outside Inbetween Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2023 - Lakes District Art Gallery / Small But Perfectly Formed Exhibition (Group Show)

— 2023 - Lakes District Art Gallery / Autumn Festival Art Exhibition (Group Show)