Connecting with the environment through painting is a focus that has developed through my painting practice and formal training over several decades.
I began my career as an artist by studying at Elam School of Fine Arts which fast tracked a deep curiosity about creating and a love of painting. Supported by the vibrant community at art school I went on to set up a studio practice and have been exhibiting regularly in solo shows, group show, and art awards. I have a practice-led Masters in Arts (Painting), further study in museums and galleries, and a summer school at the Slade in London.
My work appears in commercial and public galleries, public art gallery collections, exhibition publications, and peer-reviewed publications. I have enjoyed the Fred Staub Artist Residency in Otago, and two private residencies in Pukekura, Ngāmotu and in Norfolk in the United Kingdom where I made extensive bodies of work and connected with the communities through the time there. Others have written about my work in peer-reviewed publications, essays and editorials in Art New Zealand, Scopes Journal, and EyeContact.
Alongside my work I sometimes teach fine art at the Waikato Institute of Technology where I am also a Research Associate. Since 2021 I have contributed to academic research in practice-led art through the Journal of Visual Art Practice as an Associate Editor, and as a guest speaker at the Edinburgh College of Art, St Andrews University, and the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Scotland and at the University of Otago. Sharing my work and generating discussion about the creative process is important to me, and I have enjoyed being a panel speaker at the Art Association of New Zealand and Australia’s conferences for several years, and at research symposiums in Aotearoa and overseas.
Education
[1993-1996]: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Elam School of Art, University of Auckland, New Zealand
[2013-2015]: Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies, Massey University, New Zealand
[2018-2020]: Master of Arts in Painting (with distinction), Waikato Institute of Technology, New Zealand
[2018]: Summer School, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, United Kingdom
Selected solo exhibitions
[2025] Vital Union: Painting with Spaces and Places, Gallagher Performing Art Gallery, University of Waikato, New Zealand
[2024] Vital Union, St Peters and St Pauls Edgefield, Norfolk, United Kingdom
[2024] The Vitality of Things, Laree Payne Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2023] In and of the Earth, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2022] Local Geographies, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2022] Estuary Art & Ecology Award Finalist Exhibition, Uxbridge, Auckland, New Zealand
[2020] Painting Encounters with the Land, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2013] New Work, NKB Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2005] Vision, NKB Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2003] New Work, Morgan Street Gallery, New Zealand
[2002] And There was Light, Morgan Street Gallery, New Zealand
[2000] Here and Beyond, Morgan Street Gallery, New Zealand
Selected group exhibitions
[2021] Rauhi, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2020] From the Corner of my Eye, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2019] The Intimacy of Distance, Foenander Galleries, Auckland, New Zealand
[2018] Recent Work, Slade School of Fine Arts Gallery, London, United Kingdom
[2017] Nebula, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2017] Cataloguing Blue: Works from the University of Waikato Art Collection, Calder & Lawson Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[1995] We Are, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Collections:
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand
University of Waikato Art Collection, New Zealand
Waikato Museum Te Whare O Taonga Art Collection, New Zealand
Waikato Bequests Art Collection, New Zealand
Wallace Art Collection, New Zealand
Collected by various private collectors in the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand
Awards:
[2023] National Contemporary Art Award (finalist), Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2023] Estuary Art & Ecology Award (finalist), Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2022] Estuary Art & Ecology Award (finalist), Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2021] Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award Finalist Exhibition, Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi,Whakatane, New Zealand
[2021] New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Art Award Finalist Exhibition, The Pavillion, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2021] Estuary Art & Ecology Award (finalist), Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2019] New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Art Award Finalist Exhibition, The Pavillion, Hamilton, New Zealand
[2019] Walker and Hall Art Award Finalist Exhibition, Waiheke Island, New Zealand
[2018] Walker and Hall Art Award Finalist Exhibition, Waiheke Island, New Zealand
[2018] Estuary Art & Ecology Award (finalist/merit), Hibiscus Bays Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2017] Estuary Art & Ecology Award (finalist/merit), Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
[2015] New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Art Award Finalist Exhibition, The Pavillion, Hamilton, New Zealand
Residencies:
[2024] Edgefield (self-generated residency in partnership with St Peters & St Pauls Edgefield, Matlaske Benefice, and the the Waikato Institute of Technology Research Office), Norfolk, United Kingdom
[2023] Pukekura (self-generated residency in partnership with NPDC, and support from Damon Ritae of Ngāti Te Whiti, and the Waikato Institute of Technology Research Office), Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, New Zealand
[2021] The Fred Staub Artist in Residence, Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Selected press:
Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin, “Edged Fields: The tactile vision of Amanda Watson’s site-responsive paintings” in Vital Union (upcoming in 2026).
Mary Modeen, “Amanda Watson: Co-created Art with the Natural Environment” in Vital Union (upcoming in 2026).
Cerys Dallaway Davidson, “Vital Union: Painting with Spaces and Places” in Vital Union exhibition catalogue, University of Waikato (2025).
Norman Franke, “Amanda Watson Paintings” in EyeContact, 24 February 2026.
Laurence Simmons, “The Lie of the Land: Amanda Watson and the Forest” in Art New Zealand, 109 / Winter 2024, p59-63. (2024)
Edward Hanfling, “Pukekura en plein air: The paintings of Amanda Watson in the environment and in context” in In and of the Earth, p24-28, (2023).
Zara Stanhope, “Affective Witness” in In and of the Earth, p4-5. (2023).
Edward Hanfling “Where Do I Come From? What Am I? Where Am I Going? The Problem of Self-Discovery in Art Making as Research Inquiry” in Scope Journal Issue 24 (2023).
Peter Dornauf, “En-plein-air with a Difference” in EyeContact Magazine (2022).
Heather Olesen and Edward Hanfling, “Nebula” online resource (2017) at: http://rampgallery.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Nebula-gallery-hand-out-A3.pdf.
Professional Contributions:
[2021-current]: Associate Editor, Journal of Visual Art Practice, Taylor & Francis, London, United Kingdom
[2023-current]: Research Associate, School of Media Arts, Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton, New Zealand.
[2025]: Guest Lecturer, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand.
[2024]: Guest Lecturer, ITIA Research Programme, St Andrews University, Scotland, United Kingdom
[2024] Guest Lecturer, Duncan Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.
[2024]: Guest Speaker, PLaCE International Symposium: Distinctive Investigations of Place, Scotland, United Kingdom.
[2024]: Panel Speaker, AAANZ Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
[2023]: Paper presentation, Duncan Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.
[2023]: Paper presentation, Creative Practice Research Symposium, Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton, New Zealand.
[2023]: Panel Convenor and Speaker, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, Griffith University, Australia.
[2022]: Guest Teacher, Ramp Festival, Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton, New Zealand.
[2022]: Panel Speaker, AAANZ Conference, University of Melbourne, Australia.
[2021]: Panel Speaker, AAANZ Conference, University of Sydney, Australia.
[2021]: Guest Speaker, Dunedin School of Art Public Seminar Programme, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand.
[2021]: Guest Speaker, Creative Practice Research Symposium, Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton, New Zealand.
[2021-2023]: Academic Tutor, School of Media Arts, Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Photographs taken by Sam Hartnett. Copyright Amanda Watson.