CARA FOTOFILI
(b. 1950, Dunedin, New Zealand)
Master of Fine Arts (Distinction), Waikato Institute of Technology

Cara Fotofili had a 'life begins at 60' moment and decided to consolidate a lifelong interest in art by doing a Master's Degree at the Waikato Institute of Technology.

That commitment has led to a contemporary art practice with a focus on process-driven abstract painting. Her main body of work consists of large watercolour abstract paintings. These emerge from allowing the materials to express their inherent creativity and accepting the likelihood of failure resulting from limited planning or a preconceived outcome. Cara allows the viewer to ask what the works make them feel, rather than analyse what they mean. 

Cara's interests could be seen to manifest in the resulting works, topics such as science and cosmology. She expresses an obsession to be able to see the things we cannot see, and to know the unknowable. A feeling that our perception of the world we live in is a thin veneer, constructed to limit our thinking to the habitual and our field of activity to the mundane, or a necessary sense of order to protect us from chaos. 

Some of Cara's paintings are 5 meters long and 1.4 meters wide, which encompass the viewer and make them feel as if they are part of the work.

Cara has has been a finalist in the Parkin Drawing Prize and the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award. She is currently based in Dunedin.





Recent projects include: Group exhibition, St Andrews Church Hall, Cambridge, NZ (2019); Duplex, Group exhibition, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, NZ (2018); Taranaki Art Awards, Opunake, NZ (2018); Finalist, Parkin Drawing Prize (2018); Finalist, New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Awards (2018); Precious Things, Group exhibition, Waikato Society of Arts, Arts Post, Hamilton, NZ (2017); All In, Group exhibition, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, NZ (2017); Solo exhibition, Wintec X Block Gallery, Hamilton, NZ (2017); Small Changes, Solo exhibition, Calder and Lawson Gallery, Hamilton, NZ (2016); Pure Guava, Group exhibition, Skinroom, Hamilton, NZ (2016); Group exhibition, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, NZ (2015)

The links:
News Article, Parkin Drawing Prize
EyeContact Review