who is annabel morgan?

I am a contemporary artist based in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. In 2024, I finished a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in painting at the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. I have a large love and passion for the ocean, and through that love, I have been able to create art that shows my passion. I also have a love of for photography and graphic design.

why the ocean?

The ocean has always been a muse of my creative passion. The deep unknown is always a completely different story every time you look at it.

what is your connection to the ocean?

After growing up next to the Tuki Tuki River and starting swimming classes at 6 months old, my parents signed my older brother and me up for the Waimarama Surf Life Saving Club when I was 7 years old (I was not impressed with this new Sunday summer morning activity). It took until I was around 12 years old for me to truly start enjoying this Sunday activity. From there, it turned into a 7-day-a-week, year-round commitment, with swimming 3 to 4 times a week, surf ski (ocean kayaking) 3 to 4 times a week, and knee boarding (rescue board) twice a week until I finished high school. (Mum and Dad started to regret their choice of Sunday summer morning activity all those years ago.)

what is my style of art?

Throughout my time at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, I was unsure where I wanted to go, coming from more of a photography and graphic design past from high school, with painting always being an afterthought. It wasn’t till sitting in my first-year painting class that I created my first-ever abstract work, “Ocean Pollution” 2021. This piece was the deciding work for the School of Fine Arts to put me in the second-year painting major class. Then, over the next 3 years, I continued to work and develop my abstract style.