For the first new show of 2012, Chosen brings together painting, glass and sculpture to present a richness of artworks.

Neil Dawson’s public sculptures like Christchurch’s Chalice and Wellington’s Ferns have pride of place in their respective city centres, his domestic works are likewise unmistakable and unmissable. Using diverse imagery from geology to botany to porcelain, the pieces here bear the same rigorous form as his public works, but have dimensions suited to a domestic setting.

Established glass artists Ann Robinson and Galia Amsel reveal their mastery of the cast glass process, seamlessly combining large scale, clean forms and translucent colour to create sculptural works as Scallop Bowl and Grow 4. Also working in cast glass, Evelyn Dunstan’s Forest Crowns have a delicate intricacy that seems impossible to wrest from a medium as unforgiving as cast glass - her skill appears alchemical. Inspired by the endangered New Zealand Reef heron, Mike Crawford’s cast Matuku Moana Jugs are intimate in scale and subtle in colour.

Working with fused glass, Claudia Borella’s Iris and Infusion are wonderful examples of elegant forms enhanced with dramatic colour; the apparent simplicity of these works belies the exacting workmanship and honed skills that underlie Borella’s practice. It is easy to see why this artist has recently been honoured with an adjunct associate professorship at the University of Canberra.

Dramatic colour and scale also feature in the vibrant pate de verre vessels produced by 2010 Ranamok Glass Award winner Sue Hawker. Created in a single casting, her crystalline confections possess a weight and presence that seems improbable. This tension between strength and fragility is a hallmark of Hawker’s substantial vessels and is also evident in Luke Jacomb’s patu works, where traditional Maori weapons are made from glass blown using centuries-old Venetian techniques.

The paintings selected for Chosen likewise cover a range of media. Karl Maughan uses his oils to create layer upon layer of colour, providing rich depth to his garden views. Although their subject matter and painting styles couldn’t be more different, Bruce Hunt, Elizabeth Rees and Joanna Braithwaite are more restrained in their palette choices, preferring a subtlety of tones. Mathematician and painter Peter James Smith overlays his evocative landscapes with blackboard-style text, inviting consideration of how science, literature and art overlap.

‘Painting’ with glitterdust, Reuben Paterson’s unmistakable style provokes discussion about the roles of ‘low art’ and ‘high art’, and he continues his investigation into his own whakapapa and histories, something that Robert Ellis addresses in a broader way with his Shielded Histories and Andy Leleisi’uao in his Pa’ceania paintings.

As one of New Zealand’s most well-known artists who has worked in a plethora of styles throughout his career, the Dick Frizzell still lifes displayed in Chosen come from a period of exploration into naïve painting. Traditionally sitting on the fringes of the art mainstream, Frizzell has no qualms about placing his ‘naïve’ works firmly centre stage, validating their presence with the strength and acclaim of his personal art history.