When August Ward shows up for our interview, it’s the perfect case of the artist matching the art. She radiates elegance, wearing a lilac jumper and Isabel Marant sunglasses (securely on the whole interview, respect). She looks like she could belong in any room or, more accurately, any room would be lucky to have her in it. 

Her paintings, often in graphite and oil, feel the same way. A quick scroll of her Instagram shows a plethora of work that looks like it’d fit anywhere – glamorous hotel lobbies, gallery walls, or an especially ripe spot in the family home. Chic doesn’t define itself, it defines the space around it.

Ward, just 20, has been exhibited in artist run spaces and galleries for three years now, including Paper Anniversary, Envy, Sanc Gallery and two upcoming shows: a group show at Artspace Aotearoa and a solo show at Ivan Anthony. A prolific career, especially for someone who only just recently graduated from Elam. 

“For a while I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I think it naturally developed into the thing I wanted to do with my life,” she says.

She remembers being at Elam (School of Fine Arts, famous/infamous, depending on who you ask) as a child when her mother was a student there. “We’d always paint as children and were allowed to paint on the walls,” she remembers. When she finished high school, it made sense for her to study there.

In the beginning she remembers making “terrible art, terrible photographs” because that’s the thing she thought she wanted to do, before moving onto her current visual arts practice. “You have such a long time to figure out what art you want to make. There’s no real deadline, you can try anything.”

“There was no point, though, where I necessarily landed on my style.”

An example of Ward’s thinking and frame of reference, beyond her paintings, can be found in her MFA: My Year of Breast and Augmentation. In her abstract, uploaded to Instagram, naturally, mentions her interest in framing her journey in the context of cycles.

“The cycle of surgery and recovery, the sacrifice of time and money, and the endurance of body pain just to start the process over again. I hope to evoke a religious-like dedication required by the women who transform themselves with plastic surgery, whether they are cis or trans.”

Put more simply, and succinctly: “My paintings deal with transexuality as a consumer item.”

Her biggest artistic influence doesn’t come from the fine arts world, however, although she cites both Karen Kilimnik and John Waters as inspirations. No, her influence comes from the small screen: Real Housewives. Her favourite franchise is Beverly Hills, but she also loves Salt Lake City (I second this endorsement, it lacks so many hinges Kate Winslet should be floating on it in the middle of the Atlantic).

Although the life of a painter is pretty solitary – writers have their pages, artists have their canvases – she enjoys it. “It’s when I get to be as feral as I need to be to get the paintings done. Just me, no makeup, covered in paint.”

The Artspace Aotearoa exhibition Permissions, opening on October 18, explores the question “do I need territory” through the symbol of the cat in suburbia. Ward will be exhibiting her largest paintings yet, alongside emerging artists Yana Dombrowsky-M’Bay (filmmaker) and Dayle Palfreyman (sculptor).

“I’ve been in group shows before but I’ve never necessarily collaborated,” she says. “But I like being in a group show, especially when it’s people who have quite different practices. It can be quite dynamic.”

“I think it could be challenging but the people in this show are so nice and I admire their work. So there’s no problem.”

Her interest in reality TV and fashion pushes her interest towards the surface. “My themes centre around desire and lifestyle. My art is about the surface level of life – I like to exist on that plane. A lot of that is about image. I think it’s interesting, the idea of the image as a barrier in front of a wider truth.”

Fittingly, for someone whose work deals with surface and persona, Ward considers her personal presentation all the time. “It’s an integral part of me,” she says. “My paintings are a lot about manifestation, and so my physical form is part of that manifestation. Likewise, my paintings are part of my persona.” 

It’s a fascinating tension to observe in art, but even more so in an artist. Does a fascination in the surface indicate vapidity or shallowness? Ward, in both her presence and her artistic presentation, gives an easy answer to that question. (No.)

While she takes surface seriously, it’s clear she also has a sense of humour about herself, and her art. It’d be hard to be a Housewives fan without one of those. 

Case in point: Although Ward has several shows to her name, she is still definitely an emerging artist. So what are her mid-term goals? Some would list various prizes, career sustainability, or international recognition. 

Ward, half-serious, half-joking, has something else in mind. “Definitely more plastic surgery. That’s the number one mid-term focus at the moment.”

When our interview closes out, I ask her who the best person to follow on Instagram is.

I should’ve expected her answer: “Me.”

• Ward is part of an exhibition that opens at Artspace Aotearoa on October 18 and runs until December 21, and a solo exhibition at Ivan Anthony on November 25.