A frustrated Wellington artist has started her own gallery after she got sick of trying to find somewhere to exhibit her work.
Pixel Ink Gallery is small but perfectly formed in the eyes of its director, Rosalind Clark. She believes it is also a much-needed addition to the Wellington arts scene.
"I know there's a lot of illustrators out there and they do amazing stuff, but they don't really have a space to showcase it and sell it," she says.
The 26-year-old saw a gap in the market for illustrators and figurative artists like herself and Kelly Thompson, whose work is currently on show.
Thompson admits she has also struggled to get her work exhibited in New Zealand despite making a name for herself in Australia.
"I get my work published and get in books and people want to buy my stuff, but in comparison in New Zealand people don't really know who I am and it's funny because I'm here," she says. "They just don't seem to have such a market."
Both artists are concerned illustrations have been getting a bad rap as 'low-brow' or less worthy than their oil and watercolour cousins.
"The fact that it's in a magazine or a comic book, or it's just on a poster somewhere shouldn't negate that it's amazing work," says Clark, "and they still want to hang them in their homes and be around it."
"I think in New Zealand we're not quite keeping up," says Thompson. "There are amazing illustrators in LA and Australia, and they can sell their work for heaps, but we're still getting there."
Clark hopes Pixel Ink will help get New Zealand there by encouraging illustrators to make their mark in the art world.
3 News