"Sylvia Marsters brilliantly coloured island flowers are mesmeric - the hibiscus and frangipani blooms crowd the canvas and draw you in for a closer look"
NZ Herald 2002

Sylvia Marsters
BCA Artist in Residence
April 2 - May 21 2012

Sylvia Marsters is a New Zealand artist of Cook Islands origin. In 1996 Artist Lois McIvor, ‘discovered’ Sylvia Marsters in a series of art classes in Auckland.  Inspired by McIvor’s on-going support, Marsters continued painting and in 1998 participated in the travelling exhibition Paringa Ou, repatriating her newly discovered talent to her family’s ancestral home, the Cook Islands.

Marsters mesmerizing flower works emerged in 2000, Island Hibiscus and Frangipani dominating her paintings, the artist producing passionate and evocative images – a potent response to perceptions of her father’s homeland.

Serendipity struck in 2003 as Marsters was awarded the Creative New Zealand/Cook Islands Artist in Residence allowing the artist herself to finally return to the Islands that had captivated her soul.  Immersed for the first time in a culture that was unfamiliar but within which she developed a deep sense of belonging, Marsters  residency culminated in a solo exhibition at the National Museum in Rarotonga - Te Ruperupe O Toku Ipukarea (The Homecoming) and the exhibition O’ora Te Moenga, at BCA Gallery with fellow Cook Islands Artists, Mahiriki Tangaroa and Loretta Reynolds.

In 2012, Marsters returns to Rarotonga as BCA Artist in Residence. Please see 2012 Exhibitions for details.

Selected Exhibitions:

2012: BCA Artist in Residence, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

2011: This is not a Vitrine this is an Ocean, Waikato Museum, Hamilton;  Kia Ora Aus Aotearoa,  Ziegel Oh Lac, Zurich, Switzerland;  Pacific Showcase ‘Cloud’  Queens Wharf,  Auckland. 

2010: Braveheart, curated by Elizabeth Caughey, Auckland Show Grounds;  Flora, Koloa, Kap Kap, Okai Oceanik Art Gallery, Auckland. 

2009:  Pacific Paradise, The Poi Room, Auckland;  5 Women, 5 Journeys Exhibitions Gallery, Wellington; Shades of Summer, Matakana Art and Design Gallery, Matakana.   

2008:  Long, Hot Summer, Group Exhibition, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Waiheke;
Crosscurrents, Matakana Design and Art Gallery, Matakana; Flat/White Black Pearl, Te Karanga Gallery, Auckland; Paradise, Reef Gallery, Auckland; Vauxhall School Fine Arts Auction, Group Exhibition, Wakatere Boating Club, Auckland. 

2007:  Crosscurrents,  Matakana Country Park Gallery, Matakana; Pacific Rhthyms, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Waiheke; Artsist on Broadway, Mercedes Coutts Showroom/ Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Botanica, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Vauxhall School Fine Arts Auction, Wakatere Boating Club, Auckland; Te Manea O Rarotonga, Solo Exhibition, Reef Gallery, Auckland.   

2006:  Frangipani Lush, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, The Edge-Aotea Centre, Auckland;  Inter Islands, Waiheke Community Art Gallery/ Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, Auckland; Artists on Broadway, Mercedes Benz showroom/ Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; New Zealand's Favourite Artists, Book Launch, edited by Denis Robinson, Fishers Fine Arts Gallery, Wellington; Journeys Duo, Reef Gallery, Auckland.  

2005:  Genetic Pasifika, Workshops & Exhibition, Community Event, Artstation, Ponsonby, Auckland; Auckland to Raro, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Pataka Pasifika, Sofia Tekela-Smith, Lonnie Hutchison, Niki Hastings-McFall, Chris Charteris, Jenny Fraser, Shigeyuki Kihara, Pataka Museum, Porirua;  Found, Curated by Dr. Carole Shepheard,  Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland;  Inaugural NZ Art Fair, Morgan Street Gallery Stand, Britomart, Auckland;  Blooming Lovely, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Te Vaerua O Te Vaine, The Art Studio, Rarotonga. 

2004:  Sons and Daughters of Polynesia, Uxbridge Gallery, Auckland; Flourish, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland, Artists on Broadway, Coutts Mercedes-Benz Showroom/ Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Te Manea O Rarotonga, Solo Exhibition, The Art Studio, Rarotonga. 

2003:  Summer Hanging,  Grantham Gallery, Auckland; Pacific Blooms , Solo Show, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Pacific Islands Visual Arts Residency, Rarotonga, Cook Islands/Creative NZ - Te Ruperupe O Toku Ipukarea, Solo Exhibition, Cook Islands National Museum, Rarotonga; O'ora Te Moenga, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga. 

2002:  Summer Hanging, Grantham Gallery, Auckland; Pacifically Yours, Inaugural Solo Exhibition, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland.  

2001:  Matou Atua - We Are, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, Auckland; Summer Hanging, 800 Paintings, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland; Pacific Reflections, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland;  Winter Selection,  Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland.  

2000:  Ko Ai Au? Who am I?, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, Auckland; Archipelago, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland; Fresh Horizons, Workshop and Exhibition, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, Artstation, Ponsonby.  

1999:  First Birthday Celebration Exhibition, Adele Dallimore Gallery, Epsom, Auckland; Water, Water Everywhere, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland.  

1998:  Paringa-Ou, Cook Islands National Museum, Fiji Museum, Fisher Gallery (Auckland); Testing Traditions, Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust, Aotea Centre, Auckland; Exploring Duality, Group Show, Adele Dallimore Gallery, Epsom, Auckland.