Marie Le Lievre

Underlying the sumptuous depths of Le Lievre’s surfaces and the pools of oil paint slowly built up on top of each other is an interest in disrupting notions of purity and teasing or corrupting the boundary between abstraction and figuration, painting and drawing. Also at play is the correlation between chaos and containment, with paint itself allowed a performative role within parameters defined by the artist. Revealing and concealing, layering and obscuring, Le Lievre plays with existential themes of disorder and order, which have long underpinned her work. She is interested in the psychological and sociological, her first degree being in Criminology before completing a Master of Fine Arts with distinction at the University of Canterbury in 2008.

She has exhibited throughout New Zealand and in Australia, Spain, France and Japan. Her work is in private and public collections including the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Art Gallery and Fletcher Challenge Corporation.