Creative Matters

Ross Jones is a painter creating works that evoke a heady sense of nostalgia and elevated playfulness, living in Snells Beach on the east coast north of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.

Each meticulously devised painting offers hints at various narratives as the artist invites the viewer to engage with his role as storyteller.

I loved meeting Ross and chatting to him. We talk about Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast of Aotearoa where he grew up and the things he loves about where he now lives at Snells Beach. He shares how he failed his first year studying art and design at Wellington Design School only to return a year later and start the course again, gaining his degree 3 years later.

Ross talks about how he likes to play with time and scale in his work, his love of incorporating toys form his childhood and sourced from around the world into his paintings, how his previous illustration career informs his fine art practice today and his love of using sketchbooks for organising ideas, experimenting and drawing.

We discuss goal setting and how this has evolved into his 100 painting project which started in 2009 and finishes in 2028 and The Final 50 painting project which will start up after that and hopefully take him through to his early 80s. We explore why Ross doesn't like to paint NZ scenes, why he wouldn't enter an art competition, why he likes to paint one painting at a time and only have a solo exhibition every 2 years and why he loves to paint his dog Alice and why he won't paint yours.

https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/ross-jones-painter

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Cathy Carter is a photographic and multimedia conceptual artist, living in Grey Lynn, Auckland. 

Cathy's art is inspired by concerns about climate change and our evolving relationship with bodies of water as physical, cultural, and unique environmental ‘landscapes’ and investigates our complex psychological relationship to water through different perspectives and geographical locations.

Cathy and I have a lovely chat which I know you'll enjoy and I just loved our time together. We talk about an influential trip to Europe with her young family that influenced her and informed her early art practice, why she finally went back to uni to study fine arts at AUT University gaining a Master of Art and Design (Hons) in 2013 and why she felt she needed to do this. She shares how she came to make water her muse and how her work became more conceptual, and how she came to be represented by a dealer gallery as soon as she left uni.

We explore her extensive and wonderful series of works from her Oceanids series to her latest Fluid Alchemy series and why she likes to dip in and out of these series. We discuss her creative process, how she makes some of her work, the ideas behind her work and how she likes to also incorporate sculpture, light boxes and collaborative pieces in her shows.

Cathy talks about why she likes to enter art awards and competitions, the success she has had with this and how she approaches submitting her work.

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Jeff Thomson is a sculptor living in the little suburb of Helensville, in the north west of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He is well known for his corrugated iron animals, birds, cars and people as well as NZ icons like the Taihape gumboot and the Holden in our national Museum Te Papa, and is often referred to as the corrugated iron man of Australasia.

Unconventional, humorous, challenging, iconic and ironic, the sculpture of Jeff Thomson has given a whole new perspective to corrugated iron in the New Zealand landscape and in art.

Jeff'swork is keenly sought after by collectors in New Zealand and internationally. He has had major exhibitions in Australia and Germany as well as New Zealand. His work never stands still, and he continues to be recognised as one of NZ's leading and most original contemporary artists today.

After a successful artistic career of over 40 years Jeff has a lot of great stories - from making an elephant fence for James Wallace's home and sleeping rough in a rotunda in Albert Park for 9 days whilst installing iron elephants, to his early long distance walks and meeting the locals, his first corrugated cow made for a letterbox and his love of finding a 'non art' audience. Jeff shares some of these stories in this episode. 

He talks about some of the domestic craft processes he has explored with iron such as knitting using downpipes for needles, french knitting, screen printing, weaving, lace making and making pompoms. He shares the ideas and techniques behind some of his artist led community projects, public and private commissions and other sculptures and he talks about some of his favourite works.

We discuss one of his career highlights, which he describes as functional art out in real life, roofing in the community and the beautiful connections he's had with other respected NZ artists such as Don Binney, Paul Dibble, Ralph Hotere and Rosalie Gascoigne.

This is a fascinating glimpse into Jeff Thomson's incredible career.

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Emma Hercus is a painter born in Hastings and now living in Plimmerton, just north of Wellington.

The everchanging ocean and its view from her home serve as constant reference points in Emma's narrative abstract figurative paintings.

I loved talking to Emma. We talk about her early influences and inspiration from family as she was growing up, the amazing basketry and weaving practice she developed when she first decided to get back into being creative after having kids - which after a number of years finally led to her painting practice. We discuss her experience studying art for 3 years part time at the Learning Connection in Taita, Wellington, gaining a diploma in creativity. 

Emma shares what she loves about painting, how she incorporates mark making using her favourite scruffy brushes; layering, sanding, scratching to create beautiful marks and glimpses of colour and patterns through the layers. 

We explore interesting topics like using chatGPT or AI for writing artist statements (or not), framing, why she sometimes likes to elongate limbs in her paintings, where her stories come from and the symbols in her work.

We talk about her joint show Wildy, coming up this week at Railway Street Gallery + Studios:
An exhibition by painter Emma Hercus and ceramicist Jenn Leov
Wed 23rd October - Saturday 9th November 2024

And you'll hear from Emma's doggie Ricky at times making a guest appearance.

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Today I'm catching up with painter, printmaker Kylie Rusk to see what she's been up to since I last spoke to her in March 2021.

Listen to Kylie's first chat on the podcast in episode 2:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-on-air-with-kylie-rusk

You can see her work at her upcoming group show ELEMENTS at Turua Gallery
October 18th - 30th 2024
https://turuagallery.co.nz/collections/kylie-rusk

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Gilly Sheffield is a sculptor | weaver living in both Glendowie in Auckland and Wanaka in the South Island. 

After a lifetime of making, it was only a few years ago that Gilly developed a more specific art practice using corrugated iron and started to see herself as an artist. 

In this episode Gilly shares how she came upon this very iconic NZ material, corrugated iron, how she sources it (with help from her 'Iron Rescue Collective' friends) and the stories this medium tells for her.

She generously shares a personal traumatic event in her family's life that led to the creation of a whakapapa installation of crosses for her home, which marked the beginning of her art practice. She explains how she came to adding woven line and pattern with thread, and the steps she took to learn to weave.

This chat was motivating for me and got me thinking about all the potential of not only Gilly's work but other ideas that came to me using different materials. I'm sure you'll feel the same! We both get excited about the potential of her work, exploring the possibilities of outdoor sculpture, scale, perspective, use of different threads and public installations.

We also reflect on the pricing of her work, the dreaded imposter syndrome and how she came to exhibit her work in a number of NZ art galleries.

Gilly is celebrating a big year with her first group show, with Kylie Rusk and Claudia Aalderink:

ELEMENTS - Turua Gallery, 18th - 30th October 2024

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Creative visual thinking is fundamental to us all as human beings as we strive to understand our sense of self and the world. Chartwell seeks to deepen understanding about the importance of art and creative thinking for our future and our wellbeing. 

The Chartwell Trust was set up in the early 1970s by Robert Gardiner, then a Hamilton businessman and accountant, as a charitable trust to realise Chartwell's vision for wider access to and deeper understanding of creative visual thinking.

The Chartwell Collection was established in 1974 as a privately managed public collection, a new model for its time in New Zealand. From the beginning, all acquisitions went immediately into public gallery care and use.

In this episode I speak to 2 of the Chartwell trust directors Rob Gardiner's daughters Sue and Karen Gardiner, as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chartwell Trust’s involvement with and support of the visual arts in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Karen and Sue share some lovely stories about their early days with their parents Rob and Ev and the man that is Rob Gardiner. We talk about the long 50 year history of Chartwell, how and why Rob started the Chartwell Collection, why the collection eventually came up to Auckland from the Waikato to the Auckland Art Gallery in 1997, why contemporary art makes up the collection and how acquisitions are chosen.

Chartwell's activities and projects are divided into four key domains - Being, Seeing, Making and Thinking. Karen talks about one of the Chartwell outreach projects named Squiggla, which is a cross curricular tool that helps develop creative thinking through the power of mark making https://www.squiggla.org/

Sue takes us through ideas around asking questions in art, how we respond to contemporary art, the affects of viewing art, slow looking and Chartwell's hopes for the next 50 years and she shares the 50th year Chartwell anniversary programme which is running from March 2024 - March 2025. 

This is a wonderful conversation which recounts an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand's social and visual art history and celebrates the value of art and the creative process for everyone.

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Levi Hawken is a brutalist | modernist sculptor living and working in west Auckland. His practice includes sculpture in concrete, glass, wood and bronze as well as painting.

As a skateboarder, Levi understands the undeniable attraction of the urban concrete landscape. His work responds to the forms and elements of this environment.

In this very authentic conversation Levi takes us through his extraordinary life from early graffiti days and his world of skating to his appearances on TV and in film and the Nek Minute meme that made him famous, although not necessarily for all the right reasons. He speaks from the heart about experiences in his life that have affected the person he is, the way he works today and the art he makes. 

We discuss Levi's early work, how his first show came about and how he built his reputation as a serious artist. We talk about his current work the False Idols series and the Solv series and how his work is inextricably intertwined with skateboarding and urban forms. Levi describes the ideas behind his work and his process for making and how he feels about showcasing his work in a more commercial environment.

This is an amazing story which will inspire young and old, giving you a true insight into the person and artist that is Levi Hawken.




TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Introductions

02:34 Childhood Memories and Early Influences

04:11 High School Art Journey

06:10 Discovering Graffiti and Skateboarding

09:10 Pursuing Art and Skateboarding in Melbourne

13:07 Transition to Professional Art and Design

27:08 Life in Dunedin and Artistic Evolution

45:27 The Impact of the 'Neck Minute' Meme

52:37 Freestyling Shapes and Downhill Skateboarding

53:24 Exploring Helmet Designs and Aero Helmets

53:46 Collaborations and Exhibitions

54:35 Landscaping and Concrete Sculptures

55:47 Discovering Brutalism and Smaller Works

56:25 Buffable Show and Permanent Art

57:04 Challenges in the Art World

58:39 Transition to Full-Time Artist

59:19 Experimenting with Glass and Bronze

01:02:10 Architectural Influences and Brutalism

01:05:54 Urban Environment and Skateboarding Influence

01:14:05 Large Scale Projects and Problem Solving

01:23:32 Commercial Success and International Reach

01:31:01 Reflections and Future Aspirations

01:40:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Di Tocker is a sculptural glass artist living and working from her purpose built studio in Cambridge, in the Waikato.

Di maintains a structured approach to her art practice and business. She provides work for 5 galleries throughout New Zealand, and undertakes commissions for private residences and commercial projects. Di loves to connect with people who enjoy her glass work and welcomes visitors to her studio by appointment.

In this episode we chat about how Di discovered her love of working with glass and the ideas and narratives her work conveys.

Di very generously shares her complex glass casting process and guides us through her glass casting from design and polishing to managing colour and creating spaces and curves in her work. Di talks about studying glass sculpture in Australia and how that contributed to the artist she is today and why she likes to include figures in her work.

She shares her approach to the business side of being an artist, how she chooses galleries to work with, her love of making notes and keeping journals.

This is such an insightful episode, I learnt so much! Di has an inspiring approach to life as an artist - her journey is fascinating and she has so many great tips for creatives.

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Ronja Schipper has been lovingly making up-cycled art objects since 2015. She lives in the Waitakere Ranges in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.

Ronja uses waste materials for creating design pieces, aiming to highlight the relationship with our at-risk environment & its resources. All pieces are hand made in NZ from discarded bike innertube, cleaned, polished & enhanced with new findings.

Ronja was born in Munich, Germany and is a creative all-rounder with 20 years experience in the publishing, fashion and advertising industry in Europe and NZ with a particular passion for illustration. Since moving to New Zealand in __ she has set up bureau55, her own design studio in West Auckland and in 2015 she started her art practice.

This was such an inspiring chat with a truly formidable woman. Ronja talks about how she uses her art practice to highlight the relationship with our at-risk environment, how she got started with jewellery making using this recycled resource and how her business and art practice has evolved over the last 9 years. She explains her process from sourcing and cleaning the inner tubes to the designing, cutting, painting and packaging stages. Ronja shares how she is starting to use inner tube in different ways with framed artworks designed to be hung on walls and how she is learning to define herself as an artist.
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-with-ronja-schipper

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