Fire snake 火蛇 

Nü Wa 女娲 

Couple Standing

Eden at twilight

Twilight Oil

Sunset

Paper Boat

Sisyphus and YuGong

Laughing Sprout

Twilight at cemetery

Aphrodite

Man with a rock

Amor Fati

The Joy of Fishes 鱼之乐 

静夜思 Silent Night Thought

Dreamer on the mount

The End

Lachrimae Pavane - study 

Lachrimae Pavane 

Aeopidte

Interior 27

Interior 24 (Lopdell House)

Howick

Interior 34

Interior 21

Interior 35 (Couldrey House) 

Interior 29

Interior 31

Interior 36

Job & the Giant Vermin

Interior 47

Interior 53

Interior 56

Interior 57

Interior 45 (Melancholia)

Interior 58

Interior 59

Interior 55

Interior 60

Interior 61 (Lopdell House)

Interior 62

Interior 64

Interior 70

Interior 66

Interior 67 (Cambridge Hotel)

Interior 69

Interior 65

Poem pf the Seas

Interior 68

Strange Paradise- Installation

Dinner Table

Caretakers (The People at Fortland)

Reverie

Split

Tourists

Poem of the Seas ii

Imaginarium

Star Gazers

Interior 16 (Ivan Anthony)

Strangers

Interior No. 36

Celestial

Couple

Liberty, liberty

Korero

Jo and Gregor Samsa

Dilema

Grief

Mystery 

Super

Encounter 

Hallelujah 

Bitter Gourd

Blood Moon

Gavin Chai Forest with fallen trees (2023) 

Window with Stars

Beach Paople

Interior 91 

Interior 90,

Foliage

’s practice draws upon a rich history of cultural heritage and painting techniques and to represent contemporary experiences. Chai’s current works focus’ on interior spaces and makes reference to the traditions of Dutch & Danish painting from the 17th – 19th Century. His influences are a blend of historical, as well the personal and present, making allusions to classical & biblical themes with timeless allegories.

Chai’s hauntingly vivid works with their humble subject matter – set within waiting rooms and unassuming domestic environments – turn our attention to the intimacy of the ordinary and sometimes ethereal quality of the ‘every day’. With his use of shallow space, high contrast lighting and the theatrical arrangements of objects – Chai infuses his ‘seemingly’ mundane subject matter with sense of growing intensity or subdued drama. His awareness of traditional painting techniques and employment of figurative realism, provides an understated elegance to his empty rooms which command our careful attention as they grapple with timeless themes.

The worlds Chai constructs in his paintings display a striking sense of the surreal with an eerie sense of anticipation or even unease(?). Within these ambiguous paintings there is always something with their arrangement or narrative content to make connection to: an open door, the light through window or the unusual worlds depicted through windows. Gavin’s work is never about arriving at a point, but rather, the anticipation of a future prospect while being on the way.

Gavin graduated with Bachelor of Visual Arts from AUT in 2020 and has been a regular finalist and recipient of art awards since 2014, most recently making history by winning all three categories (New Youth Award, The Excellence Award, Overall Supreme Award) at the Otago Art Awards in 2021.

Gavin Chai - Poesies

Gavin Chai - Poesies