Kaye McGarva’s work is about perception and looking. Her abstract paintings play with light and shadow, create optical illusions and often evoke emotional and even physical reactions from the viewer.

Kaye’s works intrigue the viewer by looking familiar but strange. They try to attract attention, demanding the viewer to pause, slow down and really look. Her large, impressive works are often the result of experimenting with colours and compositions on small pieces of canvas as a starting point. Once the inspiration is perfectly captured, she can expand it into a large-scale piece.

Inspired by both nature and culture, her work invites and challenges the viewer to interpret it from their own perception.

Kaye McGarva lives in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. In addition to her studio, she also owns and operates Muse Art Gallery. She began studying Fine Art and Design later in life, which transformed her work from hobby artist to contemporary artist. Kay has exhibited in Brussels, London and of course in her own museum in Hawkes Bay.

2021 – Finalist, National Contemporary Art Awards Hamilton
2020 – Finalist, Wallace Art Awards Auckland
2020 – Finalist, Parkin Drawing Prize Wellington
2019 – Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Awards Auckland
2019 – Finalist, Parkin Drawing Prize Wellington
2016 – Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Awards Tauranga
2015 – Finalist, National Contemporary Art Awards Hamilton
2014 – Top Research Student, EIT Ideaschool Hawkes Bay

2021 – Shadow Play Kaye McGarva & Alice Rose, Muse Gallery Hawkes Bay
2021 – Auckland Art Fair Auckland
2020 – East Selected Group show, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hawkes Bay
2020 – L’Eloge du Noir, Group Show, Macadam Gallery, Brussels
2020 – Wallace Awards, Selected Group Show Pah Homestead Auckland, Pataka Gallery Porirua, Wallace Museum  Morrinsonville
2020 – Parkin Drawing Prize Selected Group Show NZ Fine Arts Society Wellington
2019 – Parkin Drawing Prize Selected Group Show NZ Fine Arts Society Wellington
2018 – Macadam Gallery Brussels, Belgium
2018 – IIDE International Interior Design Exhibition Brussels, Belgium
2017 – Hawkes Bay Review Selected Group Show Napier, Hawkes Bay
2017 – Obscurity Group Show, Studio 541 Auckland
2017 – Colour Sense Group Show, Muse, Hawkes Bay
2017 – Shift Group Show, Muse, Hawkes Bay
2016 – East Selected Group show, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hawkes Bay
2016 – Mixing It Up Group show, CAN, Napier, Hawkes Bay
2016 – Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Awards, Selected Group Show Whakatane Museum
2015 – New Perspectives Solo show, a+e Gallery, Napier, Hawkes Bay
2015 – National Contemporary Art Awards, Selected Group Show, Waikato Museum, Hamilton
2015 – Disequilibrium Solo show, a+e Gallery, Napier, Hawkes Bay
2014 – Graduate Exhibition Group show, Ideaschool EIT Hawkes Bay
2014 – Unhinged Group show, Hastings Community Art Gallery, Hawkes Bay