The Belong Song, 2024

Color is the thing I start with. Color expresses what is going on for me at the time that I paint. Color expresses how I am feeling more than words possibly could. For this reason, my artwork and my palette can change a lot from day to day. I work intuitively, and yet I am influenced by the colors of the natural world. Flowers and nature will loosely appear in my work and are representative of what is happening internally. If I paint flowers, they will appear wild or uncontained. If they are in a container, they will be breaking free. This illustrates how I feel about the world and the passion I have for: breaking rules, living free from societal constraints, reclaiming the mystical and magical parts of being human. My artwork is multi-layered, each layer building on the history of a piece. Sometimes only small fragments of a previous layer remain and, no matter how tiny, are so important in the final piece. I draw a comparison to life and how every part of ourselves – good, bad, and ugly – make up who we are, and try as we might to hide parts we don’t wish to show, it all forms a full and real picture of who we are.

Deni Rayneau is an abstract expressionist artist and mentor in Sydney, Australia. As the youngest of nine, born of parents raised in India, and a childhood spent in New Zealand, the vibrant colours in her work reflect a rich cultural tapestry.

Flowers and nature loosely emerge as symbols of internal experiences. Deni’s art reflects a passion for living free from societal constraints, and embracing the mystical and magical aspects of humanity. Her work mirrors life’s complexity, — the good, bad, and ugly — forming a genuine and complete portrayal of human existence.

Deni uses acrylic paint overlaid with oil pastel, pencil, and ground pigments on raw canvas and textured paper, Deni’s compositions are influenced by a training and background in graphic design yet have a freedom, curiousity and wildness.