We were delighted to host an exhibition of paintings by our alumna and tutor Sarah Jane Moon.
Six years in the making, this show brought together two interconnected bodies of work exploring identity, and queerness in relation to the natural world.
The exhibition featured new, large scale portraits of influential LGBTQIA+ figures alongside work made in Aotearoa New Zealand of native birds, flora and the land.
Spanning hemispheres and the gender spectrum, Nature / Nurture is a celebration of multiplicity and connection. It asks how we are shaped by our environments, both natural and social, and how queerness, migration and creative practice challenge fixed ideas of belonging.
The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on what it means to live outside dominant narratives, while staying anchored to memory, community and place.
Sarah Jane Moon (1982) is a New Zealand British painter known for her bold, large scale portraits that explore identity, gender and connection to place.
Her work is characterised by the use of dynamic colour and expressive gesture that loudly proclaims her admiration and respect for those who are forging lives on their own terms.
Moon’s work is collected and exhibited internationally and held in major collections including that of the National Portrait Gallery, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Soho House, the Alexander Turnbull Library and the James Wallace Trust.
She is Chair of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters.
