#1034 ... Well Oiled

Peter Hackett
The artwork ... the details ... "Exhibitions" ... the gallery ... thanks Ron

From a very young age Peter Hackett’s creativity was obvious. Buoyed by the adulation shown in his drawing ability, he pursued a career in the fine arts, specializing in drawing and painting in every school he attended during his formative years.

After leaving the compulsory constraints of high school art classes, he traveled to Paris, France earning a scholarship in sculpture, painting, printmaking and life drawing whilst studying under some of the most respected names in the Parisian art world such as Camillo Otero and Susanne Runacher. The sweet taste of student life in a liberal art school like The Paris American Academy became the catalyst to the unrestrained experimentation evident in his work for the next ten years.

From 1990 to the turn of the century, prompted by his marriage to his first wife and settling back in New Zealand, the experimentation gave way to a recognisable style and a preoccupation with extending his technical range instead of pursuing a narrative. He seeks to establish a dominant theme to his work, concentrating his efforts on maturing the subject matter and technique without surrendering to the influences of social trends.

Hackett has been a finalist in several major art awards including the Air New Zealand Art Award, The Nola Holmwood Memorial Portrait Prize, The Eider Este Art Award and has received a silver medal in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. His predominantly large works have been exhibited in France, America, Australia, and New Zealand with consistent public interest and he has been rewarded with a faithful customer base. Peter Hackett is an artist who refuses to be overlooked! He stands out among his peers as original and technically advanced.

Artist Statement

The ‘Honeymooners’ Bed' series is indicative of how my interest in the medium of oil has found itself in competition with the subject matter.

My newly rediscovered love of oil paint sits very well with the subject in this case, which was inspired by the mass seeding of wild flowers along the southern motorway and the marriage of a close friend. However my enjoyment has to be tempered by the knowledge that the technique and the subject were inspired by one another and that to allow the lustful application of paint to overshadow the subject, in this case, would be a backward step.

The title 'The Honeymooners’ Bed' invokes images of passionate lovemaking in a field of wild flowers at a time when love is the only thing that matters. Notions of scent, texture, colour and the sublime, incomparable beauty of nature are hinted at in these paintings. I expect to continue painting The Honeymooners’ Bed for as long as the love lasts. - Peter Hacket