In this episode I travel to Otorohanga to visit Hiria Anderson-Mit-ah at her home and studio. Hiria is Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Apakura, Rereahu.

Hiria graduated from Whitecliffe Collage of Design & Arts with an MFA, first class honours. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the University of Auckland Art Collection, the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and The Waikato Museum. She is represented by Tim Melville in Auckland and Page Galleries in Wellington.

Sitting down to speak with Hiria was entertaining, fascinating, funny and disarming. You’ll hear her speak with a comfortable frankness about challenges that she has faced personally and those that still exist for her community. She talks about what is and isn’t tapu to paint for her, why cooking pots are an important subject in her practice… and about the pivotal role a naked man jumping out of a birthday cake has played in her career.

I started by asking about her childhood and first encounters with art.

Tim Melville Hiria Anderson-Mita Page

Page Galleries Hiria Anderson-Mita Page

Hiria Anderson-Mita Instagram

The Good Oil Instagram

Welcome to episode three of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode (part two of two part interview) I return to my conversation with Grahame Sydney. If you haven’t heard part one of this interview, I suggest you go to episode two of The Good Oil to listen to that first.

In this episode you’ll hear Grahame talk about how honesty and accuracy have little to do with his landscape painting, how key it is for him to trust his own instincts, contrasted with his battles with his confidence and his imposter syndrome, despite being 50yrs into a hugely successful practice. He talks about how deeply he loves where he lives, while not pulling any punches speaking about the changing landscape at the hands of industry and environmental mismanagement, the importance of finding the right home and guardian for each painting and what painting he’d like to steal if he thought he could get away with it.

Sir Grahame Sydney Web Page

Welcome to episode two and three of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode (part one of a two part interview) I visit Sir Grahame Sydney at his home and studio in the Cambrian Valley in the Maniototo, Central Otago. In over 50yrs of practice Grahame has made a huge contribution to NZ art, receiving a knighthood in 2021 for services to art. His work is held widely in public and private collections including Te Papa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Taamaki, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Ballin Collection.

I know this is a bit presumptuous doing this so early in the life of this podcast, but the conversation with Grahame was a long one, with it being so entertaining and interesting I’ve decided to present all of it, but split it into two episodes.

In this, part one, you’ll hear Grahame talk about his early years and discovering Central Otago, his miserable move to London, establishing his practice, agonising over if $200 was too much to try to sell a painting for, his close proximity to so much of New Zealand contemporary art history including encounters with Derek Ball, Ralph Hotere, Jeffery Harris, Brent Wong, Colin MacCahon, Michael Smither and Peter Webb, and the bewildering experience of security not letting him into his first Auckland exhibition because he didn’t have a ticket.

Sir Grahame Sydney Web Page

In this episode of The Good Oil I visit Judy Millar in her Auckland West Coast home and studio.

Judy has a long and impressive record spanning four decades that is built on constant experimentation. She has represented Aotearoa at the Venice Biennale, is held in numerous public and private collections across NZ, Australia and Europe, and shows regularly with gallerists including Robert Heald in Wellington, Sullivan & Strumph in Sydney and Singapore and Mark Mueller in Zurich.

She clearly thinks deeply about her practice, as you’ll hear as we talk about her early career, how she is always seeking to translate her experience of the world into her paintings, the importance of the West Coast of Auckland to her and her work, her technical approach, her unorthodox and diverse range of tools, and how she is influenced by Rafeal Nadal.

Links

Judy Millar Web Page

Judy Millar Instagram

Robert Heald Gallery Judy Millar Page

Sullivan+Strumpf Judy Millar Page

MarkMueller Judy Miller Page