Deborah Hide-Bayne (b.1969) lives on The Coromandel Peninsula in Aotearoa. Using fine art techniques, photography and the written word, she has been making work and exhibiting since 1991.

A recent long-term project involved making large experimental abstract paintings, contrasting her own interventions with organic and highly volatile chemical reactions involving water that leave their residues on the painting’s surface. Using old-fashioned techniques and recipes from The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques (first published in 1951), she employs self-made paint mediums and varnishes.
“Control and the lack of it, is a big part of the story of this work. Over the last year I’ve learned to trust my instincts and put my faith in a skillset built up over many years.”

See some examples here.

A reoccurring theme in her more figurative work is Te Tikapa Moana – Hauraki Gulf.
“Living next to it for more than a decade, I am aware that it faces a number of environmental challenges as demands on its resources grow and the population around it increases. Whilst from the Coromandel town side it can appear quite pristine, I am exploring what it looks and feels like from different perspectives.
My work is often inspired by found materials or surfaces that I come across in the natural world. I pay attention to the formal aspects of landscape and pattern and how light and weather change places, marking the ebb and flow.”