Ideas of transformation

Upper Hutt-born painter Shane Cotton recently held a three-month residence at Sydney’s Artspace where he prepared works for upcoming 2008/09 shows at Gow Langsford Gallery in Auckland and Kaliman Gallery in Sydney. Art World’s Laura Murray talked to Cotton in Sydney about his latest paintings and the “idea of change; of something that is about to happen or has just happened.” “Dream Number 1 (2008), from a suite of four,” describes Murray, “is a confronting yet perversely beautiful painting. Uncluttered. There is, as Cotton remarks, ‘space for things to happen, for contemplation’.” Cotton is one of six New Zealand artists commissioned by The Pindrop Foundation to produce ten limited edition box sets of screen prints for the 2008 Art of Hearing initiative, which raises funds and awareness about cochlear implants. (August/September 2008)