Kyla Cresswell

Kyla Cresswell (New Zealand, born 1974).

BFA - Major Printmaking, Dunedin School of Art 1996.

Kyla’s practice relates back to the land, exploring natures tenacity and fragility.

Kyla has always been drawn to a pared down aesthetic, and through a variety of printmaking techniques—mezzotint, drypoint and embossing—she explores the micro and macro of the natural world. 

Recent work investigates wetlands and native remnant bush blocks. Historically overlooked, liable to be drained/reclaimed, wetlands are traditionally not celebrated spaces. However as precious filters, habitats and moderators of the surrounding land, a wetland fulfils a vital role in the ecosystem. This work is an invitation to reconsider these places, to protect them.

The Bushwalk series depict the lively organic line of endemic vines and their ‘living drawing’ properties. 

Kyla Cresswell grew up in Murihiku Southland, New Zealand. Majoring in Printmaking at the Dunedin School of Art, she later lived in Japan, England and Canada. Returning to New Zealand, Kyla now lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin. 

In 2022 she was awarded the William Hodges Fellowship through the Southland Art Foundation and in 2024 she was artist in residence at the Dunedin School of Art In the same year was a finalist in the Parkin Drawing Prize.

Kyla has exhibited in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. Kyla’s work is held in private and public collections around the world including Department of Conservation: Conservation Collection, Southland Museum and Art Gallery Collection, Invercargill Public Art Gallery Collection, Otago Polytechnic Art Collection, Hocken Collections Te Uare Taoka ō Hākena, University of Otago and the Eastern Southland Gallery Collection