Justin Summerton

Justin Summerton is a New Zealand surrealist painter depicting a dreamlike world, who often presents New Zealand as a primeval landscape. Summerton’s fascination with the sea he knows so well, volcanic cones, mountains and cloud formations are all targets which form the basis of all his work.

Summerton feels a particular affinity with the New Zealand coastline, spending much of his time in the water as a competitive surfer. He explores the shores of many beaches throughout New Zealand in his paintings from Piha (Auckland) to St Clairs Beach (Dunedin), as well as being an avid traveler.

Summerton’s uses a scrumbling brushstroke technique to build layers of colour and texture onto his surface. This approach tends to modify rather than obscure the previous layer and creates stark contrast between dark and light pigments. The overall result is a fresh and vibrant new view of the New Zealand landscape.