“As a child I thought there was nothing more magical than picturing something in your mind and then bringing it to life.” Ineka Voigt

The amazing Ngunnawal / Canberra based Ineka Voigt is part of Life in Colour at Tyger. Photo by Annie Hurda.

Tyger is delighted to welcome the brilliant Ngunnawal-based artist Ineka Voigt for our upcoming show, Life in Colour.

The show brings together more than 30 incredible artists from all over the country.

Life in Colour's opening celebration takes place on Saturday 16 November from 1pm. Register for the FREE event here, and add your contact details to the mailing list to get early pre-sales access.

Ineka comes from a family of creative women who taught her to draw and paint. Her gorgeous work is autobiographical and forms a visual diary of places and memories.

Working in gouache and oils, typical subjects include flowers, gardens, bushland, native birds and still life. On 26 January 2016 her illustration Stolen Dreamtime was seen on the Google homepage as a symbol of reconciliation and solidarity.

Ahead of the show opening, Ineka told us about getting lost in the flow of painting, finding yourself at a turning point, and the magic of bringing to life something you’ve pictured in your mind.

Where do you create your work?

"I don't yet have a committed studio space, so Ive learnt to take the work with me."

"For the moment, I am creating smaller works in gouache on paper. I have a bag with all my supplies which I'll take out into the garden or the bush to paint in the sunlight. I have treasured artist friends who I'll sometimes visit and paint in their studios. At night I paint while my partner plays guitar. I prefer to paint on the floor because that's what I used to do as a child."

How do you create your work?

"For the past six months I have committed to an (almost) daily painting practice. It has become important to me that I give myself this time, to nurture my creativity and sense of wellbeing. The small works I have made have formed a visual diary of experience."

"I work from my own photographs and life studies, and stitch these together to create imaginary scenes that can sometimes feel more colourful, more whimsical than real life. When I feel myself getting tight or too literal, I change my brushes and my mark making to loosen the image."

"The process of painting is when I feel most present, and I can get lost in the flow for hours at a time. With these small works, I will paint them in a single sitting and in the end the work has taken on a life of its own. And that's when it reveals its story."

What's the story of your work in the show, Ranunculus?

"Ranunculus symbolises a turning point."

"A year ago I found myself in Daylesford in early spring. If you've ever spent time in the Macedon shire, you will know that it's picturesque rolling hills, gum forests and flower lined streets are something out of a children's book. When I arrived, the garden bed in the centre of town was a blanket of Ranunculus in every colour. I took way too many photos and painted them back in our little woodland cabin. I painted flowers and gardens almost everyday for a month. My partner would go to work for six hours and he'd come home to find me still painting at the coffee table. And through this daily act of creating I realised that I wanted to be an artist, and that while it may take time, it was the life I wanted to cultivate."

"This was the first small work I created since calling myself an artist. It was the first painting in a ongoing body of work using gouache on paper, created from a place of curiosity, expression and joy."

"May you blossom where you are planted."

What inspires you?

"My work is inspired by the natural world. Ive been preoccupied with flowers since I was very young; my first paintings, age 4, were a series of flowers from my mother's garden - each different in form, texture and colour."

"I only reference photos that Ive personally taken, from moments that have struck me as curious or beautiful or significant, otherwise the work doesn't feel like me. Im relying more and more on my imagination, because as a child I thought there was nothing more magical than picturing something in your mind and then bringing it to life."

What do you hope people feel when they see your work?

"I hope you feel joyful. I hope you feel present. I hope you are reminded of your inner child. I hope you feel optimistic that the world is beautiful and that you belong in it."

Register for the opening celebration of Life in Colour on Saturday 16 November here.