CJ Hobbs
Three generations before me, my father’s family arrived in New Zealand via the South Island. All three generations of men were driven to do civic duty. My grandfather and father brought up their family in Rotorua - my mountain is Tarawera and the awa that shaped me is Lake Rotorua.
As a painter of the New Zealand landscape, my practice is grounded in an affinity for remote, unspoiled environments. These spaces—often vast, quiet and unpopulated—offer me a sense of freedom and emotional connection, shaped by my personal experiences of living and adventuring within them. I seek to create contemplative works that resonate emotionally, evoking memories of time spent in nature through the careful rendering of light, mood, and perspective.
There is a quiet presence in these landscapes and coastlines — a sense of the people I’ve lost, felt as a kind of melancholy. Though I may be alone in these scenes, I am never lonely. Each painting is an immersive response to the physical sensations of place: the wind, the warmth of the sun, the touch of rain and foliage, the scent of earth, the texture of roots underfoot, and the boundless horizon.
I primarily work in oils, drawn to the medium’s capacity for blending and subtle modulation. Often, I mix colours intuitively—seeking the hue that elicits a fleeting moment or emotional imprint from the landscape.
My creative process begins in nature, often through solitary walks and quiet observation of shifting light and weather. I photograph melancholic and meditative sites that move me, then return to them in the studio, working to translate not just what I saw, but how I felt and transforming these impressions into paintings that invite viewers to their own emotional reflection.
