Lorene Taurewera exhibition is an exploration of forms and space in Whanganui

Lorene Taurewera with some of the works in her Painting and Drawing exhibition at Gallery 85 in Glasgow St. Photo/Bevan Conley

Every visit to Gallery 85 at the Glasgow St Arts Centre in Whanganui feels like the first time.

Each exhibition transforms the small gallery into a completely different space from the last visit and every new artist's work transforms the room.

There is a quiet, contemplative quality to the current exhibition of Lorene Taurewera's works Painting and Drawing which features her drawings and large oil paintings.

"I'm known for my drawing and the paintings are a relatively new thing for me," she says.

"I have recently finished a large body of work that I call 'Life in a Box' which consists of about 2000 drawings.

"I never intended to exhibit them but I have selected some for this show."

Taurewera has recently returned to Whanganui after living in New York for 14 years.

She was one of the first graduates of the Wanganui Polytechnic fine arts degree in the 1990s and remembers holding her first solo exhibition at the Sarjeant Gallery.

"Paul Rayner was a curator at the Sarjeant then and there's a nice feeling of coming full circle to be having an exhibition here."

Although her paintings feature human subjects, Taurewera says they are not portraits but rather part of her exploration of forms and space.

"They are narrative works and I have concentrated on paring down the details to make some forms very pushed back and distant."

Painting and Drawing is showing alongside the group show Paintbox at the adjacent Rayner Brothers Gallery.

Both galleries are open from 11am to 3pm from Wednesday to Saturday at 85 Glasgow St, Whanganui.