A journey in layers
Art has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child I spent a lot of time drawing, making and creating, often in nature. When I was older, I remember loving art books, completely absorbed in the colours, the compositions, and the lives behind the work. Something about it stayed with me. I still love beautiful art books and collecting them.
When I was around 10, we were making floral paintings at school and the teacher told me I had talent. It made me pay attention to art in a new way, as something I might genuinely pursue. More than that, it gave me a quiet sense of confidence that stayed with me over time and, in many ways, helped shape my creative path.
I followed that thread into my studies, completing a Bachelor of Media Arts in painting and sculpture. During that time, I also worked with installation art, which expanded my understanding of colour into three dimensions and shaped the way I think about space. I have always been drawn to interiors, and this continues to influence how I compose my paintings today.
After my studies, I moved overseas. What I expected to be an exciting continuation of my creative path became a period of distance from it. I experienced a deep artist block and found myself moving through a number of different career paths, searching for something that felt right. Again and again, I was drawn back to creativity and art making, and just as often I felt a sense of frustration.
It was not until I came across the idea that the work has to be “bad” before it can become something meaningful, sometimes described as the ‘U-turn’ in the creative process, that shifted something for me. That might seem like a small thing for many, however for a recovering perfectionist, it was a huge thing! I began to let go of expectation (in small steps), and started to enjoy painting/making again. Around the same time, I worked through The Artist’s Way and discovered The Jealous Curator, both of which were instrumental in helping me reconnect with my creative voice.
Slowly, and then all at once, I returned to my practice with a new sense of clarity. I realised that this was not something to search for elsewhere. I am an artist!
For nearly two decades I lived in Europe, an experience that continues to shape my work. I was surrounded by beautiful architecture, thoughtful interiors, and a softer, more muted sense of colour. These influences remain in my visual language and often appear through lines, grids, arches, and a sense of quiet balance, elements that allow my paintings to sit gently within a space.
My process is intuitive and layered. I usually begin without a fixed plan, starting with loose washes, marks, and scribbles. From there, I build slowly using paint, forms, and repeated gestures. At times I scratch back into the surface, revealing earlier layers and allowing parts of the painting’s history to remain visible.
Colour has always been a constant for me. I am drawn to fresh pastels and gentle tones, often balanced with an unexpected moment of brightness. I like that feeling of calm with a subtle energy beneath it, something that can quietly transform a room.
More recently, my family and I moved from Germany to Marlborough, New Zealand. The landscape here feels open and expansive, with wide skies, vineyards, soft rolling hills and the rugged ridgeline. It is very different to where I lived before, and I can see the new influences within my paintings.
Painting, for me, is a way of slowing down and paying attention. Each piece holds its own story, the layers, the marks, and the small decisions made along the way.
My hope is that when a collector lives with one of my paintings, it brings a sense of calm, joy, and quiet curiosity into their space, and that they find their own moments within it.
Levon x
If you are curious to see where these layers lead, you can explore my current collection of abstract paintings in the gallery.
