Amber Wallis and Lizzie Hall’s ‘Swans & Ammo’ is scheduled to close at Utopian Slumps tomorrow (Saturday 18 August). After a more than successful exhibition Amanda Maxwell spoke retrospectively to Amber about the show, her upbringing and other pressing issues such as the impact of finance on colour.

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Hi Amber, thanks for dinner it was delicious. I hope you got your crock-pot home with out any more spills. Umm, I was just wondering - where were you born?

Well I was born in Warkworth, a small town north of Auckland, New Zealand.

And then what happened?

I guess I was a little grubby kid running wild in the wilds of New Zealand. We lived on Waiheke Island then Dad moved to Great Barrier Island where there was no electricity, always a long drop and various drug addled vagrants and cute 14 year old, dirt bike riding, leather jacket wearing hoods that fished, huffed glue, and had dirt embedded in their skin. Although I actually lived with my mum in Mairangi Bay and then Ponsonby most of the time.

Did you know you were an artist back then?

No, my mum was an artist, she held that mantle. I am unsure about being an artist today, it is a difficult thing to describe myself as, especially as I have not had the luxury of trying it full time.

Don’t argue, you are an artist. I know the first time I saw your drawings I thought to myself “Amber is the real deal” and I kind of wish that would happen to me more. Your work seems to come from the heart, like you haven’t thought about it at all, it just arrives on your canvas in a ready state of perfectness. Is that how it really happens?

Ha ha. Yeah that is exactly how it happens, apart from the perfectness part! I generally approach a blank bit of canvas, board or paper with some kind of emotion but no plan, then I let the utensils around me dictate the outcome. It is a very organic approach, almost entirely automatic and generally quite speedy. Although as I create more I am becoming more interested in the more formal aspects of art like line, composition, form and colour. I have a long way to go technically, but I feel like art is a means to expel or exorcise my own emotions in some kind of succinct way. People like Cy Twombly and Tony Tuckson rule my world and what I enjoy so much about their work is the emotion so deeply embedded within the gestural.

Your new works are super colourful, whereas in the past you seemed to stick with very rich antipodean earth tones, like ochres and browns and olive greens. Why the change?

Well the simple answer is materials. I could only afford so many tubes of paint and they where the tones I was drawn to so in effect they were the colours I used. Then this year I had a little more money and wanted to expand my palette and also challenge myself by using colour. I was also really inspired by Amy Sillman and Rhys Lee’s use of colour, I really got into pink and blue after seeing his work. So I bought a bright pink oil stick and tried it out. Environment has a lot to do with it also, when I was living in Vancouver I used those Australian tones alot as some kind of way to balance the grey, motorcycle, urban, music world that engulfed me. It was the complete opposite of what the art kids were doing around me, which was appropriate because I felt so out of place.

Why were you in Vancouver?

Initially I was there at the Emily Carr School of Art and Design on exchange but then I met a boy and fell in love so I ended up living there for a few amazing, devastating and inspiring years.

Was that a turning point in your life?

Yes. It is strange when the things you expect the least happen to you, it was kind of like that.

Did you expect Swans & Ammo to almost sell out on opening night?

No, not at all. I expected the drawings to sell but all the paintings sold really quickly and only a few drawings sold. I was surprised but really happy at the same time. It pushes you to keep on going, to re-invest in materials and continue on the art journey.

What happens next for you?

Well I am now trying to think about my next body of work and aiming to get a residency in Canada next year. Eat some food and ride my bike in the springtime. Maybe jump in the car and do a road trip, anything is possible.

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Images courtesy of the artist