Thresholds: From silence to self

Jacqueline Bell-Walsh

7 July - 2 August 2026 | Community Gallery

A journey through the quiet process of emotional growth. This exhibition explores how identity is not found in a single moment , but formed through layers of reflection .

Divided into four phases, the paintings represent a threshold , a point of transition where something shifts

Artist Bio: Jacqueline Bell-Walsh

Jacqueline is a Waikato based visual artist, with a lifelong passion for creative expression. Early influences include New Zealand artists such as Don Binny, Phillip Clairemont, and Colin McCahon, inspired by her mother’s employment at the Auckland City Art Gallery when Jacqueline was a child.

At the age of 16, Jacqueline began her working life as an illustrator in advertising while continuing art education through life drawing with Owen Lee and design studies at Auckland Technical Institute. Later, she joined and exhibited with the Titirangi Painters and as an adult completed both Bursary Art and an Advanced Diploma of Creativity at The Learning Connexion (Wellington).  Her style blends realism and expressive abstraction, exploring the interplay of form, colour, and texture and experiments with materials and techniques, guided by intuition and curiosity. The human form is a recurring influence in her art . An active member of the Cambridge Art Society, exhibiting in group shows and recently received two awards at the “Art Alive” exhibition in 2025. Over the years her work has been exhibited at galleries across NZ and had two previous solo exhibitions. Balancing art with a career in mental health nursing has an impact and influence on her subject matter.