artists
every piece has a story, and every story begins with an artist
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND · MIXED-MEDIA & OIL PAINTER
Jessica Holliday
Jessica Holliday is an Auckland-based artist whose richly layered paintings celebrate the native birds, botanicals and fleeting moments of beauty found throughout Aotearoa. Combining expressive mixed-media surfaces with carefully observed oil painting, she creates vibrant worlds shaped by nature, memory and belonging.
about
Jessica Holliday works primarily in mixed media and oils, drawing inspiration from New Zealand’s native birds, botanicals and the small moments within nature that can be easily overlooked.
Her paintings begin through a process of layering. Acrylics, inks and expressive mark-making are built across the surface, alongside impressions taken directly from real leaves and botanical forms.
These early layers create movement, texture and a sense of history. Birds and flowers are then brought to life in oils, emerging from the more intuitive and abstract elements beneath them.
Jessica’s work moves between observation and imagination. Native birds appear among abundant blooms, while gestural marks, fragments of foliage and passages of colour create environments that feel both familiar and dreamlike.
A recurring theme throughout her practice is the relationship between place, memory and belonging. Jessica is fascinated by the way particular birds, flowers and plants can hold memories of home and connect us to different places and periods of our lives.
Because each person carries a different understanding of where they have come from and where they now belong, Jessica sometimes brings elements from separate places together within a single painting.
By allowing these different worlds to meet, she creates a sense of familiarity and connection—an imagined landscape where memory, nature and personal history can coexist.
Colour and movement are central to her work. Flowing washes and energetic marks sit alongside carefully rendered feathers and petals, creating a balance between spontaneity and detail.
Her paintings encourage viewers to pause and notice the life unfolding around them: the arrival of a bird, the opening of a flower or the renewal that follows a difficult season.
Jessica’s work will be exhibited in the 2026 Art Salon at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery in Flat Bush, Auckland, from 17 October to 28 November.
Through her paintings, Jessica creates spaces where nature becomes more than a subject. It becomes a way of holding memory, recognising beauty and finding a sense of home.
Because sometimes belonging begins with the birds, flowers and places that make us feel connected.
Jessica Holliday
Native birds and abundant blooms capture the colour, movement and promise of spring.
In Spring Harmony, pīwakawaka and silvereyes move among flowers and foliage against a soft aqua background. Pink, plum and yellow blooms gather across the canvas, while expressive marks and flowing colour give the scene a lively rhythm.
Jessica Holliday created this work to celebrate the season when everything begins to bloom and nature feels full of life. Flowers, birds and new growth come together as a reminder to slow down and notice the beauty unfolding around us.
Its horizontal shape would suit a living room above a sofa, an entryway console or a dining space, bringing a sense of the garden indoors.
Joyful · Abundant · Uplifting
Mixed media finished in oils on canvas 61 × 91.4 cm canvas depth 3.8 cm 2025
Unframed, with the artwork continuing around the sides. Hanging wire installed, ready to hang.
UNFRAMED room images show possible placement and framing possibilities