Brent Forbes is a Timaru-based New Zealand artist whose practice is primarily abstract, drawing on the conversation between sea, sky and land. Working predominantly in acrylic and mixed media, Brent has exhibited throughout Aotearoa New Zealand since 1989, with his work held in private collections in New Zealand and internationally, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany and the United States. His work is also held in the permanent collection of the Aigantighe Art Gallery in Timaru.

Time spent walking, biking or simply being outdoors is an important part of Brent’s painting process. Rather than depicting specific locations, he distils his experience of landscape into colour, tone, texture and form. Water, the horizon and the meeting of land and sea are recurring subjects, with a restrained monochromatic and tonal palette characteristic of his work.

Brent’s paintings are built through a process of layering, scraping back and manipulating the surface, allowing forms to emerge and recede. His approach to landscape has evolved over time, with a move away from the large-scale works for which he is well known towards smaller paintings and tonal studies. This shift has brought a greater intimacy to the work, while retaining the atmospheric qualities and abstraction that underpin his practice.

More recently, Brent has been working in watercolour and monochromatic ink, bringing a different degree of fluidity and immediacy to his mark-making. These works retain his longstanding engagement with landscape while allowing line, wash, tone and the qualities of the materials themselves to play a more prominent role.