Artist Andrew McLeod on painting as a distraction from chronic fatigue syndrome

Artist Andrew McLeod paints sitting on the floor of his Whanganui studio. Photo/ Bevan Conley

Artist Andrew McLeod says painting offers a way for him to take his mind away from symptoms he experiences due to chronic fatigue syndrome.

McLeod moved to Whanganui last year after completing his tenure as an artist-in-residence in Marton and at the Sarjeant Gallery’s Tylee Cottage.

“I developed chronic fatigue syndrome in my late 20s, but I had a period of six years where I didn’t get symptoms, and now it’s returned for about the last year and a half.

“I could be sick for the rest of my life or this just could be a relapse period - you don’t really know.”

He said a lot of the symptoms of chronic fatigue were hard to describe, but generally painting offered a distraction.

“I am physically limited, but I can still paint, sometimes I just feel terrible.

“It’s a certain amount of pain and muscle aches. It’s like having inflammation and the flu all the time.

“I paint more when I’m sick, but everyone’s different. I just find it’s distracting and it makes me feel better.”

McLeod said he felt lucky he was able to make a living through art, as it could be difficult for people with chronic fatigue to get long-term support through sickness benefits from the Government.

“People are afraid of illness and disability, I think that’s it, and they don’t want to think about it, and you remind them of it.”

McLeod is currently working on paintings for his annual solo exhibition in Wellington.

“Currently, I’m interested in portraiture and the figure, and the way that pictures can tell stories.

“I can’t tell if the work’s good, really, until a few years after it’s finished.

“It should be really difficult to say why a painting is good. Otherwise you can just say it, and then maybe it should be a piece of writing.”

McLeod said artists that inspired him were Gustave Courbet and Lucian Freud, and New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King.

“The great thing about painting is that anyone can be completely amazing and come from anywhere, you don’t need a massive budget like in film, just some paintbrushes.”

McLeod said he had learned not to second-guess the art market and its relationship to New Zealand’s economy.

“The art dealers know more what the collectors are thinking and feeling than artists.”

He said currently a large artwork of his would fetch a price point of $100,000.

“There’s lots of the wrong reasons why people will buy art or be interested in painting, mainly pretentiousness and status — I guess people aspire to be a certain type of person, but there’s lots of the right reasons as well.

“I’m not fussy about what their reasons are if I make a sale!”

McLeod said he thought the Whanganui art scene was growing.

“I know quite a few musicians and artists who have moved here in the last five years, which is a good sign, and they could buy houses, and that’s not something you expect when working as an artist.

“Artists and craftspeople have an easier time because there’s more of us and the culture has [come] to accept that, and seen that it’s a good part of society.”

Andrew McLeod’s works will feature in the Dowse Art Museum exhibition Strange Friends that is free to the public and is open from September 9 - January 28.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.