About


RECENT NEWS

2023/24

Johnson Naylor, London
www.johnsonnaylor.co.uk

I'm currently working with Interior Architect & Design firm Johnson Naylor on the new Lendlease Park Sayer residential development in Elephant & Castle. I've been appointed to create a collection of bespoke original paintings and art prints that will be launched in the early part of 2024.

 

Awards

  • 2023 July, Shortlisted Women in Art Prize ‘Lucid’, Abstract Category
  • 2023 June, WINNER Merit Award, Hampstead Art Fair, Summer Festival ‘Hampstead Heath’
  • 2022 Shortlisted Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition ‘Murmurations’
  • 2021 Shortlisted Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition ‘Echo’
  • 2021 June, Judges Choice Lambeth Street Design Competition ‘Hillside Passage’, Streatham
  • 2020 Runner Up Top Drawer ‘Spotted’ Awards, Spring / Summer 

  

My name is Luana Asiata, I am a London based artist with a background in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. I studied painting at Elam School of Fine Arts in New Zealand many moons ago and took a detour into design. For a number of years I worked as a freelance creative designer/art director in publishing and for corporate companies working on a range of designs from film, fashion, food to agriculture – it was a real mix.

After becoming a mother, I felt like I had lost my identity and I struggled with the pressure of raising little ones while having a career. It was one early morning while feeding my little one that I discovered I could create digital drawings using my iPhone, it was a lifeline to my sanity and spurred on a flurry of creativity.

I created a body of work based on my travels round Ireland, NZ and the South of France. The result was a collection of bold abstract prints inspired by the places I visited and the people.

I showed my work at art fairs, organised pop-up events with friends and other artists, and exhibited my paintings in group art shows. I had built up some confidence and I signed up to exhibit at Top Drawer, the UK’s leading international design-led event at the beginning of 2020.

I showcased my first collection at Top Drawer and won an award in the 'Spotted' Awards which showcases new up and coming designers to watch. It was a wonderful start but then a few months later the country went into lockdown. I wasn't going to let this deter me so I focussed on raising my profile on social media and selling online.

Post pandemic I've exhibited at The Other Art Fair in London, was shortlisted in Women in Art Prize 2023, Merit Award Winner at Hampstead Art Fair and regularly exhibit in the UK, Ireland and in my home country NZ in October and November 2023.

I'm continually reimagining the world in my abstract interpretations, reducing the visible world into shapes, colours and patterns. Music plays a big part and can influence the way I paint or draw, rhythmically it sets a pace and I visualise colour vibrations. 

Most of my drawings are in preparation for a painting either in oils or acrylics. Different objects, photos and words trigger a memory or a feeling and I try to interpret that in my work so that when I stand in front of the finished painting or drawing it takes me back to that memory.

Abstract art creates an inner world, you never really know where it will take you or what the end result will be, I love the explorative nature of it and the visual sensations that unfold.

I work from my little studio in South London.

You can find my work on R|SE ART

 

Education

Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, NZ

 

Collaborations 

2022

Violet James Studios Interior Design, London
www.violetjamesstudio.com
I worked with Interior Stylist, Charley Morgan on a number of residential developments in Aldgate East, Crystal Palace and Wimbledon to create a collection of bespoke and open edition prints.