Auckland artist Chloe Blades will open her largest exhibition yet at He Waka Tuia tonight, bringing a deeply personal exploration of modern womanhood to Invercargill.
The exhibition, titled 'I put the flowers there so it looked like I had my life together', showcases Blades' journey into visual arts that began during Covid lockdowns when she started painting with a friend over Zoom.
He Waka Tuia Manager Sarah Brown said the exhibition features Blades' vivid tablescapes alongside paintings and domestic artefacts from local Southland collections, including more than 60 pieces from Te Kupeka Tiaki Taoka Trust Southern Regional Collection and 30 from the Invercargill Public Art Gallery collection.
"We are incredibly excited to bring Chloe's wit, joy, and observation of what it means to be a woman to He Waka Tuia, and to welcome our community to come and experience works that reflect the emotional architecture of women's lives for themselves," she said.
Blades, who balanced raising her young whānau and creating art while managing Unity Books, draws inspiration from authors like Dolly Alderton, Rachel Cusk, and Emma Jane Unsworth. Her work references artists including Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo, and New Zealand painter Jacqueline Fahey.
"For me, it's the central part of my house as the stairs lead up to it. It's where I paint from, feed my kids at, and sometimes sit with my husband to talk over dinner instead of watching TV," Blades said of her tablescapes.
Describing her work as "colourful, abstract, optimistic and imaginative", Blades explores the pressures facing contemporary women.
"Modern womanhood is fascinating. Women have so much in their power now compared to 'back in the day', which I think is what's terrifying the manosphere, but the opportunities, choices, advice, and responsibility is enormous and so there's more pressure and expectation," she said.
The exhibition opens at 6pm tonight and runs until 28 June, featuring a sold-out paint-and-sip workshop designed to make art accessible to everyone.