Profile of New Zealand Artist Lola Badman

Lola Badman was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1937. Her appreciation of the natural environment began at ages 7 and 8 years, when she lived on the crest of the Cashmere Hills in Christchurch. She became aware of the extreme changes of the seasons – snow covering the hills; a blazing sun in summer, fog blanketing the city below; and at night, an immense star-lit sky. There was the equinox, with hot northwesterly winds causing the pine – forest nearby to crackle and roar. These seasonal changes to the landscape, have remained as a constant inspiration for the artist.

Her early experience in the arts was concerned mainly with music, when she studied violin and classical guitar. She combined this with orchestral work and ballroom dancing. Becoming involved with a tramping club in Christchurch fostered an interest in the New Zealand landscape, particularly in Fiordland, the Southern Alps, and the Coromandel areas. At a later date, she began painting under the guidance of the late Paul Olds of Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.

Lola has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, in New Zealand and in Sydney, Australia, and gained a N.Z Academy of Fine Arts Award for landscape painting( 1985 ). Lola’s paintings form part of both public and private collections in New Zealand, Jamaica and the USA. Her work was included in a touring exhibition of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, Republic of China in 1991, organized by the Waikato Museum of Art and History; and in a touring exhibition organised by the King Country Visual Arts Trust.

As an art tutor, she has taken classes and workshops in Wellington and the Waikato regions. She practiced Art Therapy at Waikato Hospital , for the Diploma of the New Zealand Council of Recreation and Sport. Lola’s articles on Art Therapy were published in the Mental Health Foundation Journal and the Journal of the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists Inc., 1983. Her painting " The New Order" was reproduced in Art New Zealand magazine, Summer Edition 1989, in conjunction with an article about the Association of Women Artists exhibition "Women and Culture".

“I enjoy painting environmental and landscape themes, sometimes using the mosaic as a basis for style. I also enjoy figurative work and life drawing and painting. I find the geometrical aspect of graphic design satisfying and challenging; I like the interplay of structure, colour and form, and at times employ a fairly consistently ordered approach, particularly to landscape and still-life topics. Conversely, I sometimes paint in an impressionistic style when the subject matter demands that type of approach.”

“I compare the natural and manmade environment, and learn how to portray a synthesis between the two; how each can complement the other. Where dominating factors occur and create disharmony, the painter can, through art practice, change this and present it to others in a positive way.”

“Music, painting, literature and dance have a complementary nature – I cannot imagine one without the other, having participated in varying degrees for some years in each discipline. I now enjoy painting and feel that my experience and enjoyment of other art forms has been essential to my development as a painter. Another interest is classical studies – the history, art, culture and literature of other countries and civilizations.”

A review of Lola's paintings by art critic Sam Edwards, Waikato Times, December 16, 1985, reads:
"All Badman's figure studies are bold and energetic. The paintings are of women who are individual, interesting, responsive. People who contribute positively to their world. From the highly textured and symmetrical design of "Pompeii" through the humorous arrangement of "Chairperson", to the fullbodied energetic works " Nude 1" and "Nude 2", the characters are rewarding viewing."
"Women provide the dominant images in this collection, but all Badman's paintings have a memorable visual strength. The form of "Cat with Flowers", the striking angularity of the central images in "Two Birds", the brilliant reds of "Belshazaar", the relationship between images in "Studio 1" - cello, chessboard, figures, are individually satisfying, collectively a demonstration by an artist who has intellectual strength as well as a responsive understanding of her medium."