Born in the Philippines and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Andrea Bolima's work tends to effortlessly mimic her natural surroundings. Now based in Naarm / Melbourne, Andrea finds herself traversing a different colour palette as she explores her new backyard. Andrea is particularly drawn to the changing colours of the natural world, the drapery of flora and fauna, the twists and turns of branches – all suggesting the ebb and flow of time. As a result, her works explore how colour can embody the things around us.

Andrea's often earthy and floral portrayals are also inspired by the tactile experience of the painting process. We can see this material influence through the interaction between colour, texture and different gestures. Her artworks often reveal the layering and de-layering of forms as structural elements, which slowly unfold and sometimes deteriorate. Much like the layers that emerge and fade away in her paintings, so too are the learned behaviours Andrea has developed and the new behaviours she is acquiring. Andrea paints intuitively to allow new possibilities to open up as she continues to explore different ways of perceiving colour. Through experimentation, she is able to create new ways of how the concept of colour can be perceived.