INTRODUCTION
I was born in Dunedin, New Zealand. I am of maori descent from the "Ngai Tahu" tribe of the south island.

From an early age I loved to draw and paint. I was six years old when I entered my first art exhibition, and came 3rd in Otago. I have studied art throughout primary and secondary schools, where I advanced to 7th year university bursary level art studies and then attended the Dunedin School of Fine Arts.
I have specialized in a field of art, that I have named "post modern surrealism". The digital paintings viewed in the gallery are based on drawings, oil paintings, and sculptures that I completed at art school, and in private commissions. The artists that under pinned and influenced my work are wide and varied, but for the sake of this consideration I will briefly deal with those that have had the most impact on my surrealistic development.

The two primary founders of surrealism were Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. Personally I was moved by Magritte's work as I felt he remained true to the doctrines of surrealism, (and his influence can be seen in suite 4) while Dali began incorporating christian archetypes and symbolism into his paintings which I felt had been over done during the churches dominance of artistic patronage in previous centuries.

The contemporary New Zealand surrealist artist Brent Wong has had a dramatic impact on my work and has influenced my style and development. His large scale architectural sculptures floating above contemporary landscapes struck a deep cord in me. Part of my being sung out in total awe of these paintings and I celebrate the dramatic impact that this artist has had on my work by listing his influence in suite 1 and incorporating these surrealistic motif's in my logo.

The sculptural works of Alexandra Liberman has also had a dramatic effect, which can be seen in suite 3.
A more detailed description of primary and secondary influences will be considered on the "influences"page.

PROPRIETOR / ARTIST: PETER MATHIAS