It would seem that Sam Leitch is quite the artist about town these days. With a veritable buzz around the subject of his artistic talents, Leitch’s colour-filled pieces and subtle local references have drawn comparisons between his work and that of New Zealand painting greats such as Hammond and Frizzel. Now, after the success of his previous exhibition Under the Archway, the artist is back with a follow up show They Keep Stealing All The Oranges which will be exhibiting at the Allpress Studio next week.

When asked about what inspires him, Leitch cites the simplicity of everyday life. “Time and moments which are translated into surreal spaces. Sometimes these moments in time are frozen with a glass like liquid over the top. Captured forever.” With a connection between viewer, artist and art a relationship that dominates his ever evolving practice, this time They Keep Stealing All The Oranges requires the viewer to delve deeper as layers are peeled back to expose a more conceptual approach. Always wanting to take the viewer on a trip inside his work, Leitch’s upcoming exhibition will certainly garner your curiosity. Using colour and scale “to illustrate what is topical in [his] own world,” the artist brings icons and ideas from everyday life onto the canvas. From bottles of wine to bulldogs, birds and people, he’s “exploring the world with optimism, raising unanswerable questions that keep the viewer both satisfied and interested”.

Attempting to simplify this series by bringing out the very basic nature of the idea, the show’s underlying concept is the rosella birds that keep coming back and eating the oranges from the tree in Leitch’s garden. He explains, “I have broken it down and put it into a series of works highlighting [this]. Expect to want to ask questions but sometimes these questions will not have answers. Try to connect the dots. The main thing that inspires my work is the idea of art itself. I am inspired to make art that people fall in love with.”

This exhibition has now finished.