Vashti Johnstone is a contemporary New Zealand painter, based on the South Island’s West Coast. She has been a student of visual language forever, formalising her innate need to artfully express and articulate with a Diploma in Painting, Aoraki Polytechnic (2001).

Vashti’s oeuvre applauds the vitality and importance of making art. Respectful of and roused by the lineage of creators who have gone before her and those who create alongside her, she pushed her practice in energizing and innovative ways, layering charcoal and paint into a colourful language that transcends beyond worlds.