Raised on the shores of Taranaki, extensive travel has influenced and directed Tanya Blong's work. Studying in the bush in Puhoi, north of Auckland, Blong graduated from Hungry Creek and Craft school in 2006 majoring in painting and sculpture, before furthering her academic studies under Deborah Crowe at Browne School of Art in 2020.

Tanya Blong’s work speaks to a moment in time, heated summers being the backdrop to society at leisure and comments on the act of being idle. It's not only the sensory aspect of this state of being but looking at leisure throughout history and what it looks like for people today. The luxury of time is a major theme with questions posed of access, privilege and exclusion.

Colour plays a large role in the work, with the use of non-local colour creating a dreamlike quality, setting the scene for a host of characters and an ambiguous narrative. Blong is always looking to push colour and create a frequency with placement and layering.