Essay Arts News NZ (p.96) 2017 Andrew Paul Wood

I'm an unapologetic fan of Christchurch artist Marie Le Lievre’s work. She’s one of the most interesting painters in the country, so her big solo show Under High at Jonathan Smart Gallery was a wonderful treat. Her rich, complexly layered, heroically scaled canvases are utterly mesmerising, and grouped together in the smaller space the effect was a little like a submerged Rothko chapel. The whimsical drawings (with a touch of darkness) are a new direction for her and are utterly compelling. For the life of me I don't know why she isn't better known in the North Island, because her work is phenomenal.