Kyla Cresswell grew up in the south of New Zealand and studied printmaking at the Otago School of Art. Time living and working overseas, saw her influenced by the aesthetics of Japan and inspired by the minimal, wintery landscape of Europe and Canada.
Kyla’s delicate work explores the physical impact of the elements on the environment as well as the consequences of human occupation of the land. Working mainly in mezzotint and drypoint, she strives to find a stillness and a quiet celebration of nature. Her work is firmly grounded in a sense of place.
In 2006, aspiring to develop a supportive environment for works on paper in Wellington, Kyla opened Solander: works on paper Gallery. In 2009 she was joined by two other directors and later stepped away from the gallery to focus on family. Kyla recently returned to her home province Murihiku and spent a year living in Northern Southland. Now settled in Dunedin, Kyla is passionate about printmaking she hopes to spread the wonder that is ink on paper. Little Prints Printmaking was founded by Kyla and enables portable printmaking workshops.
Kyla has exhibited in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada and her work is held in private and public collections around the world.
In 2023 Kyla was awarded the William Hodges Fellowship through the Southland Art Foundation, a 12 week residency, this culminated in an exhibition ‘Tracing the Land’ in Invercargill.
Education
2002
Edinburgh Printmakers‘ Studio Summer School, Edinburgh, Scotland.
1993-1996
Bachelor of Fine Art (Printmaking), Otago Polytechnic School of Art, Dunedin, NZ
Solo Exhibitions
2005 New places we remember, Grodentz: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2005 New places we remember, Printmakers‘ Studio, Dunedin, NZ
2023 William Hodges Fellowship Exhibition, Tracing the Land, Invercargill Central Exhibition Space, Invercargill, NZ
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Murihiku Art Awards, He Waka Tuia, Invercargill, New Zealand
2024 Parkin Drawing Prize Finalist, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, NZ
2024 He Hikoi a Te Awaawa Mataura – A Journey Through the Mataura Valley, Work from the Permanent
Collection, Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore
2024 Ko Murihiku tōku Whaea - Southern Mother, Dunedin School of Art Gallery, Dunedin, NZ
2024 Paper: Aotearoa Art Fair with the Railway Street Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2024 Ko Murihiku tōku Whaea - Southern Mother, He Waka Tuia, Invercargill, NZ
2024 small holes in the silence - Kyla Cresswell, Catherine Macdonald, Prue MacDougall and Nan Mulder,
Te Atamira, Queenstown, NZ
2023 Still in our Nature, Railway Street Studios, Auckland
2023 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, (London) Shortlisted. Directors’s Cut, Online
2023 Celebration: Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand Exhibition, Aratoi, Masterton
2023 Ko Murihiku Tōku Whaea - Southern Mother. Kyla Cresswell, Emma Kitson, Kim Lowe. Eastern Southland
Gallery, Gore, NZ
2022 Annual Spring Exhibition, He Waka Tuia, Invercargill, NZ
2022 Thinking of Place III, IMPACT II, International Print Conference, Bristol, UK
2022 Ko Murihiku Tōku Whaea, Southern Mother. Kyla Cresswell, Emma Kitson, Kim Lowe. Te Atamira, Queenstown
2022 Towards Strangeness, PG Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2022 Thinking of Place III, NorthSite Contemporary Arts, Cairns, Australia
2022 Pūtahitanga and Awakening the Taniwha, Te Ngākau Civic Centre, Wellington, NZ
2021 Ko Murihiku Tōku Whaea, Southern Mother. Kyla Cresswell, Emma Kitson, Kim Lowe. Toi Gallery, Pātaka, NZ
2021 Towards Strangeness, Railway St Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2020 Distant Conversations, Depot Artspace, Auckland, NZ
2020 Thinking of Place II, Arthaus, Auckland, NZ
2020 Thinking of Place II, Northside Contemporary Arts, Cairns, Australia
2020 Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga, Spark, Christchurch, NZ
2020 Alienation, The Nomadic Gallery, NZ
2019 Floribunda II: Megan Dickinson Gallery, Whangarei, NZ
2019 Shared Lines: Christchurch, Cheesemonger Gallery, Arts Centre, Christchurch, NZ
2019 Shared Lines: Kaikoura, Kaikoura Museum, Kaikoura, NZ
2018 End of Year Exhibition, The Artist’s Room, Dunedin, NZ
2018 Trailblazing: Women in NZ Art, Megan Dickinson Gallery, Whangarei, NZ
2018 The Christmas Show, Inge Doesburg Gallery, Dunedin, NZ
2018 Thinking of Place II, IMPACT 10 International Print Symposium, Biblioteca Central de Cantabria, Santander,
Spain
2017 Here and There: Translating the Landscape, Megan Dickinson Gallery, Whangarei, NZ
2017 ILT Art Awards, City Art Gallery, Invercargill, NZ
2017 Kina Summer Show, Kina Gallery, New Plymouth, NZ
2017 AP Sale, Open Studio, Toronto, Canada
2017 The Forest, PG Printmaker Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2017 On Paper: Kyla Cresswell, Dianne Fogwell, Kathryn Madill, Catherine Macdonald, Prue MacDougall, Solander
Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2016 20 Years: Artists from the Inge Doesburg Gallery Stable, Inge Doesburg Gallery, Dunedin, NZ
2016 Balance: Kyla Cresswell, Kate Alterio, Claire Beynon and Di Conway, Artist's Room, Dunedin, NZ
2015 Works on Paper: Kyla Cresswell, Marci Tackett and Danielle Creenaune, Solander Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2014 Summer Salon, Solander Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2013 Heart 2013, Solander: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2012 Art on Life: Group Show – Collaboration with Kate Fitzharris, NZ Academy Of Fine Arts, Wellington, NZ
2012 Freak of Nature, King Family Exhibition Space, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A
2011 Freak of Nature, Switchback Gallery, Gippsland Centre for Art & Design, Monash University, Churchill, Australia
2011 A Happy Medium: Group Exhibition, Solander: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2009 Deck the Walls, Solander: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2008 Near & Far: Kyla Cresswell & Inge Doesburg, Solander: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2007 Impressed, Aratoi Gallery, Masterton, NZ
2007 Inky and Scratchy, Solander: works on paper, Wellington, NZ
2006 – 2008 6th British International Miniature Print Exhibition, Touring UK
2006 Bimpe IV: Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition, Federation Gallery and Dundarave Print Workshop,
Vancouver, Canada
2006 An Exhibition of Small Intaglio Prints: Pawel Zablocki, Todd Tremeer, Kyla Cresswell and Ryan Price. Open
Studio, Toronto, Canada
2006 10: Printmakers‘ Studio 10th Birthday Exhibition, Printmakers‘ Studio, Dunedin, NZ
2006 Treasures from the Conservation Collection (NZ Department of Conservation), Riverton Arts Centre, Riverton,
NZ
2005 Annual Artist Proof Sale, Open Studio, Toronto, Canada
2005 Open Slather: CPCANZ Members‘ Exhibition, Wine Country Gallery, Havelock North, NZ
2005 If All The World Were Paper and All The Sea Were Ink, Northern Print Studio, North Shields, England
2004 Recent Works from Northern Print Studio Red Box Gallery, Newcastle, UK
2001 Nagasaki Teachers' Art Exhibition Nagasaki, Japan
1997 Otago School of Art Student Work, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, NZ
1997 Seven Exhibition, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill, NZ
1996 Young Contemporaries, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill, NZ
Awards
1996 Craig Printing Young Contemporary of the Year Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill, NZ
Residencies
2022 William Hodges Fellow, Invercargill, NZ
2024 Dunedin School of Art, Artist in Residence, Dunedin, NZ
Publications
Proof : Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand Two Decades of Printmaking. Massey University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-1-99-101613-3
Printmaking Today Magazine, Spring 2022 Issue, Exhibition Preview of ‘Towards Strangeness’ at PG Gallery, Melbourne.
The Joy of a Ming Vase, Poems by Ruth Dallas. Published by Otago University Press, 2006. Paperback ISBN 1 877372 30 7
Printmaking Handbook: Non-Toxic Printmaking by Mark Graver, A & C Black Publishers Ltd, London, 2011. Paperback ISBN 1408113252
‘small holes in the silence’ touring exhibition https://www.stuff.co.nz/culture/350156671/trees-wetlands-peoples-poet-inspire-southland-artist
An article from an interview with Ina Arraoui exploring the New Zealand Printmaking community. Ina is the founder of Printopia. https://inaarraoui.com/kyla-cresswell/
‘Te Hīkoi Toi: The art that connects us to home’ Article by Arihia Latham, Stuff, November 13, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/ypm7jdcn
Print Council of Australia Blog, March 2022. ‘Towards Strangeness’ https://www.printcouncil.org.au/towards-strangeness-2-2/
Collections
Otago Polytechnic Art Collection
Department of Conservation Collection
Invercargill Public Art Gallery
Southland Museum and Art Gallery
Eastern Southland Gallery
Hocken Collections Te Uare Taoka ō Hākena, University of Otago
Printmaking Education Collection, Printmaking Studio, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado (Thinking of Place III project)
Private Collections nationally and internationally.
