Child of Africa
The youngest of three, Finela Moore grew up in
Africa.
She showed talent at a young age and won many school
and youth art competitions. She began to sell work professionally in
about 1980. Her work is influenced
both by the rich banquet of African art, and the Pacific Islands, including the Maori
style in New Zealand. She attributes her success to the love and
encouragement of key women in
her life, beginning with her mother and grandmother. She has been
greatly influenced by a
personal history marred with tragedy.
Journey
of tears
In her
youth, the sudden death of
her beloved mother and younger brother flung the sensitive artist and the
family into grief and disarray. A Cinderella story (without the hansom
prince) took Moore into a cycle of emotional abuse and family conflict that
would leave the young girl emotionally battered. It would take her to the depths of depression and despair, even close to suicide.
The story of recovery
Finally Moore had to make the painful decision to break away from the family
to rediscover herself and pick up the pieces. It would be a few years
before she saw her father again, and she set about the business of finding
functionality after the disfunction, health and fullfillment after
depression and conflict. She underwent therapy, found a deep and
residing faith in God, and studied psychology and sociology to try to
understand the forces that had made her young life so difficult.
Moore's work is all about her life, her struggle and triumph of recovery.
The journey left her with depth & strength and a commitment to sharing these
things through her art and in other ways.
New beginnings on new shores
Though still influenced by her life in Africa, Moore now draws inspiration from her new life
in
New Zealand, her children and her hopes
and dreams for the future.
Her first appearance on the New Zealand artscape came with an invite to exhibit at Bethlehem college, a prestigeous local art
event in the Tauranga area. Since then she was a top seller at the
successful downtown galleries, Toto, Zohar, the Art Boutique and others.
She exhibits in group shows at Harrisons gallery, and
has been on the Garden and Arts Fest. She exhibits regularly on the
Mazda art exhibition at the Hilton in Auckland. She is included in various charity auctions that are put on throughout
the yearly calendar in the Tauranga area. Her
work sells regularly to an increasingly admiring audience both in
New Zealand and further afield. Her regular galleries and art outlets
are to be seen on the contacts page of this site.
She continues to go from strength to strength in life as in her artistic
achievements.
Art Awards and achievements
Making a name for oneself in a new country takes time, and
Moore's work has steadily been accepted and appreciated more and more by
the local public in the Tauranga and Mount Maunganui area, and increasingly
in wider New Zealand. A project, "The Doors of Hope", was introduced to Tauranga in
March 2006, by Tracey Tume of ImageNation. Local artists were invited to paint on
doors which were then displayed along the strand in Tauranga. The
event culminated in an auction and prize giving ceremony in which Finela
Moore's
door achieved both the prize of supreme award and the highest price for the
charity her door was to benefit, the Tauranga Women's Refuge. The
local judges were Richard Arlidge and Grant Thompson. Her door was
bought by a collector in Dubai.
featured here, the door titled "Hope springs eternal",
which won the competition. Mixed media with highlighted texture on a
donated door
Mazda Artworks
at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland, 2006 & 2007
Moore
showed work on the 2006, 2007 & 2008 Mazda Art Show at the
Hilton Hotel in Auckland. It sold well and was well received by the
Auckland art scene.
New Zealand affordable art trust show in Wellington,
2006.
Moore also participated in the Wellington art exhibition run by
the Affordable Art Trust of New Zealand, which showcases emerging artists at
affordable prices.
