Artists
Through their individual and collective practices, the artists in the RE:USE Collective demonstrate creative ways of giving used things a new lease of life.
Bobbie Gray
Bobbie Gray is a multidisciplinary artist from New Zealand, whose work encompasses sculpture, moving image, painting and installation, and stands at the intersection of art, sustainability, and community. A 2017 Fine Arts graduate from Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design, her artistic journey can be characterised by a profound commitment to sustainability and the natural world.
Her standout project, Kowhai Grove, was an innovative installation for the Tauranga City Council. Created with community input, it featured thousands of recycled plastic Kowhai flowers. In collaboration with the local community, it engages in crucial dialogues on sustainability, highlighting collective action.
Internationally, Bobbie’s work has been displayed in iconic venues such as Coventry Cathedral (UK) and The Medina of Tunis (Tunisia), and featured in the touring exhibition Windows 98 in Iran. Her residency in Cassis, France, further diversified her artistic perspective, enhancing her exploration of art's role in environmental advocacy.
In 2017, she launched Comet Project Space, which evolved from an artist-run gallery into a dynamic pop-up initiative, underscoring her commitment to community engagement and collaborative art.
bobbiegray.com
Judith Lawson
Judith Lawson was born in Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa/NZ. Currently resident artist at
Arthaus Contemporary, Orakei. She works with painting, found materials, photography and
small sculpture.
After working as a solicitor, living in London and the Cayman Islands she returned to NZ pursuing a lifelong interest in art, completing a Postgraduate Diploma Fine Arts (Distinction) in 2016 and a Master of Fine Arts, (Honours), 2017, Elam, University of Auckland.
She was a finalist in the NZ Painting and Printmaking Award, and the Waiheke Art Awards in 2022, and the National Contemporary Art Awards 2017.
A life-long beach comber, she is motivated by a love of the natural world, and the precariousness of everything in it facing climate change. Her work is a response to the massive waste problem created by an obsessive consumer culture, and questions human
perceptions of value and how this influences behaviour.
Her recent work on polystyrene “Into the Kingdom, Washed with Green” was chosen for the
opening of the Auckland Climate Change Festival 2022.
Kathy Ready
Originating from Whangarei, Kathy completed her B.A. (Fine Arts) with Honours at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia and has been active in Australia, the UK and New Zealand.
Kathy’s primary practice is painting, but she has also co- written and illustrated three books and had her own textiles company designing and making men’s and women’s clothing and accessories.
Now based in Auckland, Kathy has been exhibiting both nationally and internationally since 1996. She has been a finalist in numerous national art awards; including the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award twice and had a number of commissions; notably, two paintings for the foyer of the Hilton in Queenstown.
Lara Thomas
Lara Thomas is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and educator from Tāmaki Makaurau.
Lara holds a BA in Art History and graduated with a BFA (Hons) from Elam School of Fine Arts in 2017.
Lara's practice spans ceramics, sculptural installation and printmaking. She has actively exhibited her work in a variety of contexts since 2013; in galleries as well as curating, creating and installing artwork for numerous festivals and events around the country.
For the past 5 years she has worked as curator for the University of Auckland Art Collection. Recent highlights include having an essay published in 'Apocrypha: The Maps of Roger Mortimer' and managing the commission of Pou Iho, a large scale installation by Dr. Maureen Lander and students for the University's new Engineering building.
Milvia Romici
Milvia Romici is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer based in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland. Born in Brazil, she lived in the UK for 20 years and worked as a medical illustrator for various academic publishers, including The Lancet.
When Romici came to New Zealand in 2010, she decided to further her studies and completed a Postgraduate Diploma from Elam (Distinction) and a Master's in Fine Arts (First Class Honours).
In her Master’s thesis, “A Trivial Thing”, Milvia researched the cultural narratives surrounding plastic as a way to understand our world and how plastic became the perfect material for the evolution of our capitalist economy and subsequently our plastic waste problem. In 2022, she was a finalist at EAA16 (Estuary Arts and Ecology Awards) and NCAA2022 (National Contemporary Art Award).
She is currently enrolled to start her PhD at Auckland University of Technology, where she will further her studies on plastic waste and themes of consumption, sustainability, and circular economy.
Louise Keen
Born in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Louise Keen is a practicing mixed media and textile visual artist living and working in Auckland, New Zealand.
After being awarded the College George Pearce Scholarship towards further study in 2010, Keen went on to graduate from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2013. She was also a finalist in the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award for Painting and Drawing.
Keen's work is held in public and private collections and she continues to exhibit in New Zealand and internationally in solo and group shows.
Louise Keen was also the founder and facilitator of Easel Gallery, an artist-run initiative in Victoria Park Market Co-Working space.