Michelle Colson's abstract works challenge perceptions of black and white

Abstract painter Michelle Colson will hold her first exhibition at Fine Arts next week. Photo / Bevan Conley

Michelle Colson's abstract works give the impression that the paint is still moving and you might look away and find that the forms have changed.

"Fluid but fixed" is how she describes her work and she will be exhibiting a selection of paintings in her Black is White show at Whanganui Fine Arts Gallery from next week.

Colson is the newest member of the Whanganui Fine Arts Collective, joining 10 other artists.

"I think it is a good fit because my work is different from what any other members are doing so I'm adding something new," she says.

The artist was living in Hamilton where she attained a Bachelor of Media Arts with honours at Wintec.

"I came to Whanganui to house sit for a friend in 2015 and experienced a flood," she says.

"Rather than put me off the place, I decided to move here and I've been enjoying it ever since."

Colson bought a home with a good-sized garage for studio conversion in Whanganui East and she has been an Artists Open Studios participant during the past two years.

Her works are mostly acrylic on board although, she says, she sometimes works on canvas and experiments adding inks to the paintings.

"I tend not to name my paintings because I like to leave it up to viewers to form their own impressions," she says.

Some of the works in her studio are made with vivid colour combinations but her latest works in black and white explore their polarities and how they challenge our perception when put together in a painting.

Black is White opens at Whanganui Fine Arts Gallery, 17 Taupo Quay on Friday, July 13 at 5.30pm.