My name is Rilee Nepia-Owens but everyone just calls me Riye.
I am an artist from Aotearoa New Zealand currently based in the beautiful hills in Boorloo Perth, Western Australia.
I play with the geometric and figurative styles of traditional Māori art and combine them with modern colours and the realism of portraiture to create new ways of cultural expression. My paintings tell the stories of new generations while continuing to pay respects to the roots of traditional Maori art.
I love bold colours - my finished works are real statement pieces! The imagery in my painting is both modern and traditional, melding the recognisable patterns of my home in New Zealand with the contemporary urban landscape. The people I paint have a youthful defiance about them - the women in my paintings meet the viewers gaze with supreme self confidence, or gaze into the distance with complete disregard.
I didn't go to art school or anything official like that. My practice as an artist has developed through the guidance of numerous mentors and hours of quiet self reflection. This has been incredibly valuable - not only in my career is an artist, but to my life. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by amazing creatives, and this has led me to mentor other creatives in turn. Being self taught is an incredible advantage, in that I have been able to refine my style without the external pressures of an art world telling me what I ‘should’ be doing.