One In Five for 16 November 2014 - I am an Artist

Transcript

Presenter: One in Five’s up next – Radio New Zealand’s weekly look at the issues and experience of disability.  Carol Stiles is at a Hamilton Art Gallery.

Maree Glass:  … you only want number 20 of those two … you don’t want the other one?

Female:  Well, I love this …

Maree:  That’s right …

Female:  Yes, I’ll have that as well [laughs]

Carol:  You’re a collector, are you?

Female:  I’d love to be one, a collector!   I’m a collector of Kamini’s tonight!

Maree:  I’m a collector of Kamini’s … I love Kamini’s work.

[Background:  Maree -  I need some more red dots]

Female:  And I actually quite love, I love those two little ones there, but I also love that … but I think you’ve put a sticker on that.  So now I’ll have to have a think.  So I’ve got that … that … and them. 

Female:  Ok, so I’ll take …

[background noise/voices followed by the tapping of a spoon on a glass]

Samuel Nickalls:  All right … good evening.  Good evening all, my name is Samuel Nickalls and I’m the manager here at Sandz studio, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you all this evening for the launch of the Arts Access Aotearoa I’m an Artist Campaign.  And also to celebrate the beautiful, beautiful work of Kamini.  So it’s my honour now to welcome Richard, who is the Executive Director of Arts Access Aotearoa.  Richard.

Richard Benge:  Thank you Samuel, kia ora tatau, it’s lovely to be here.  Thank you very much for coming, everyone … so many people here tonight.  I live in Wellington, and my job is to run an organisation called Arts Access Aotearoa which is passionate about making sure that all New Zealanders have access to the arts and are engaged in the arts.  And Sandz gallery and studio here in Hamilton is one of the leading studios and galleries around New Zealand that’s making this happen.  Great, eh!  So we’re all in the right place …

Sarah Nathan:  This means a lot to me personally, some of the notes I was given, potentially, talked about how disability affects one in four New Zealanders …

Carol Stiles:  Sarah Nathan is from Creative Waikato. 

Sarah: … and that reflects very clearly in my own family and within my immediate nuclear family, we have artists – visual artists, performers, singers and writers.  And in that same group of people we have autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and depression.  And they would not … they are inseparable.  Inseparable, and the ability for my family members to have access to the arts, to be able to participate and show their talent – it just kind-of goes without saying, doesn’t it? Everyone in this room totally gets that.  So we’re going to help other people totally get that.  So that’s what this campaign is all about.  I’m so pleased to be here …

Richard:  The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness and promote the abilities of artists who happen to have a disability, but also the studios and the arts organisations that support them all around New Zealand.

Carol:  So there’s five poster men and women, aren’t there?

Richard:  Yes, there are five artists from five cities, and the campaign is taking five weeks as well, so this is Hamilton’s night.  And Kamini is the artist from Sandz, who we are promoting.

Carol:  And Sandz is the local gallery … it’s called a community space, isn’t it?

Richard:  It’s a community space – we refer to them often as creative spaces.  And this one by IDEA Services, under the auspices of IHC, is a leading New Zealand creative space.  A place where people with intellectual disability can come and make great art and follow art pathways.  And out of Sandz are some of New Zealand’s leading outsider artists, and that means artists that haven’t necessarily been to art school.  But because of their unique abilities, they actually don’t have a self-critic.  So that means they are free and fresh and their colour choices and their subjects are completely unique.  And if you think that van Gogh was an outsider artist who never went to art school but just saw things and painted accordingly, a lot of these colours and the subjects of these artists are of that genre.

Sarah:  … I wanted again to acknowledge Kamini, we were just talking about the work that she does.  She paints the flowers of her homeland in Fiji.  She’s lived in Hamilton for ten years, she moved here with her family and this reflects the memories of her upbringing, and look at the reward we get as a community when a gallery like this can do that work.  [applause]

Samuel:  Kamini is an artist who has a real sense of who she is and what her art practise is.  And you can make suggestions, and she may embrace those or she may not, and that’s what we love about Kamini.  So yeah, she makes beautiful, gorgeous, luscious paintings of flowers.

Carol:  Kamini Nair works alongside art tutor Maree Glass when she comes to the studio each week.

Maree:  In one session she’ll paint, and as a rule she’ll finish a work in a day, and then the next part, once the paint’s dry then she likes to go over things in pastel, so she arrives in the morning and she remembers what pastel work she’s got to do from the week before, so we start off with her finishing her last week’s stuff and then she directs us for the size canvas to get from out the back for her and away she goes.  We do a bit of research around books that we might have with flowers and things and – we help her get her paints ready and she’s away.

Carol:  Kamini how long have you been painting?

Kamini:  Ten years.

Carol:  Ten years.

Kamini:  Yeah, ten years.  Sandz.

Carol:  At Sandz Gallery.

Kamini:  Yeah.  Wednesday.

Maree:  Yes, Wednesdays are the days that Kamini comes in.  She comes in early on a Wednesday morning and she paints busily all day, don’t you, Kamini.

Kamini:  Does, yeah, does.

Marie:  She thinks she’d like to come more often, but we’ve just got to organise that.

Kamini:  That’s my flower, that one there, flower, my painting, $100 sold it.

Carol:  Sold for $100.

Kamini:  $100 painting, we sold it.

Carol:  Thank you, Kamini.

Richard:  Funding for this campaign came from the Ministry of Social Development’s Think Differently campaign, under the ‘making a difference’ banner.  So, in this way we can make a difference because the purpose of that campaign is to change attitudes and behaviours towards disabled people.  Now, Arts Access Aotearoa is the national organisation that promotes accessibility and inclusion in the arts, so by bringing a make a difference campaign together with arts access, what we are doing is changing attitudes and behaviours towards people who have a disability who do art and helping the general public think differently when they see an artist with a disability because they have unique and wonderful abilities.

Carol:  There are all sorts of people who have been chosen to be the pin-up people for this campaign; there’s a dancer, Michael, from Christchurch?

Richard:  Yes there is, yes - Michael Krammer is a remarkable dancer who has had a twelve year journey with Jolt Dance in Christchurch.  Michael has lived experience of autism and he has really improved, in not only his dance technique, but his whole social life and his ability to communicate.  We are enormously proud of Michael, but also Jolt Dance and Lynn Cotton and how they are an integrated mixed ability dance company that really moves people with disabilities into expressive joy in dance.

Carol:  Michael, what have you had to do for this I’m an Artist campaign?

Michael:  Well, last Wednesday myself and another dancer from Jolt put together a two minute duet and we had to perform that at the City Council for the poster launch.  And it was very humbling to see myself all around Christchurch, on all street corners, and thinking ‘I know that person!’

Carol:  It literally is a poster campaign, isn’t it, there’s big posters of artists up around the city.

Michael:  Yup.

Carol:  What do you hope people will learn from this ‘I am an artist’ campaign?

Michael:  Learn that anyone has the opportunity whether they have a disability or not to express themselves to be either a painter, an actor or an actress, a dancer, or any of those areas they feel passionate about, really.

Carol:  How old were you when you started dancing?

Michael:  I was 19.

Carol:  And how old are you now?

Michael:  31!

Carol:  So what made you give dancing a go?

Michael:  Well, it’s like this:  I didn’t like playing sport but I wanted just to try something a little different, out of my comfort zone, so I thought right, I’m going to have a go at this and see how I go.

Carol:  Dancing is a huge part of your life, by the sound of it.

Michael:  Yeah, it is, it’s a really passionate part of my life and it’s an absolute privilege to do what I do.  I’ve been working with Year 13 students at Papanui High School earlier in the year, they had an assessment to do, working with people with intellectual disabilities, and just a while ago I taught a class at Addington School through the conductive education unit and I taught there for nine weeks.  The kids just absolutely loved it.

Carol:  What is it that you like about dancing?

Michael:  It’s the way that people like me can express themselves through different movements.  It is as simple as that.

Carol:  Is there any type of dance style that you like the best?

Michael:  Well, I enjoy all sorts, especially contemporary, which is what Jolt does, and it has absolutely no rules, absolutely no rules at all.  If I wasn’t dancing I wouldn’t have all these fantastic opportunities like I do now.

Carol:  What opportunities has dancing given you?

Michael:  Working with lots of amazing choreographers and building my confidence, and have a sense of belonging somewhere.  To be a dancer.

Carol:  In Dunedin you’ve had Tanya …

Richard:  Yeah, in Dunedin we’ve had Tanya.  So Tanya is a visual artist who has a physical disability and she has good use of one arm and a lot of her works are highly colourful, but she really works with shapes and lines and builds up textures that create highly unique paintings again, very, very collectible, all these works are highly collectable and really worth the value for money.

Carol:  You’ve found one you like the look of?

Female:  Oh, I love Kamini’s work.  I’ve bought Kamini’s work before, so I love Kamini’s work.

Carol:  So which one are you going to take home with you?

Female:  I’ve got that lovely piece that’s behind Maree, there.  The lovely …

Carol:  Lots of pinks in that one.

Female:  Yes, the lovely pinks and I love this gorgeous one over here, so it’s decision time, isn’t it! [laughs]

Carol:  So when did you first see Kamini’s work?

Female:  About five years ago, yes it would be about five years ago and she had a lovely exhibition at The Framing Workshop and I bought a large piece of work then.  So I just love her mark-making, I love her use of colour, I think she’s an incredible artist.

Carol:  And that first piece you bought, where is it?  At home?

Female:  Well, it was at home, and I had a friend who loved it so much that she’s got it, so I have to replace it now, don’t I?  [laughs]

Carol:  And from Auckland you’ve got Allyson Hamblett.

Richard:  Yes, now Allyson works at Spark Creative Development.  Allyson is really well known for her portrait work, so she really gets into the stories behind people, when you look at the way she interprets people’s faces and their stories and their places in her world, that’s her unique art choice, but she’s also a musician and a writer, so Allyson has all manner of achievements, we’re really proud of her also.  And on each poster we’re also telling the story, there’s text on the posters that tells the story of the artist but also the creative space, the studio that supports those artists.  What I’m really concerned about is there needs to be more support for creative spaces because they are often under-appreciated and under-funded and what I’m really concerned about is that there needs to be less mystery and more accessibility, and greater understanding of the value of creative spaces and what they’re achieving for the artists and the families of the artists, because if these people aren’t engaged in art, they’re lost.  They’re not engaged in wellness.  And if we don’t keep them well, then that will cause all sorts of other costs, not only mental health but social welfare costs as well.  And the other really important thing to recognise is that these artists are true artists, of great value, and people purchase their art so we want to engage with that on an economic level this is a way for artists with a disability to seriously make money for themselves.

Carol:  What sort of things are produced here every week?

Samuel:  Well, if people could just look around the walls!  Really beautiful art that speaks of the people who come here.  And you’ll see every style, every media and it represents the artists that these people are.  We’ve got beautiful pop art paintings of Ed Sheeran, we’ve got lovely mosaics, we have a peacock, you’ll find the Rena with oil coming from its bowel …

Maree:  … we’ve got one woman at the moment who’s doing portraits of sock monkeys.  There’s a book there with photos of sock monkeys and so I bought that book a couple of weeks ago and she’s really taken a shine to that, so these really neat, pen and ink sort-of drawings here are … she started on that book and the way she’s going I think she’ll go right through nearly every sock monkey in that book.

Samuel:  We support artists who come into the space to make work in whatever way they want.  To follow their interests and to become artists.  So we give them as many options as we can in terms of media and when people first start here we like them to have a go at everything.  We don’t want to prescribe to them what they do, we just observe what they are interested in, find out who they are, build some relationship with them and then we take it from there.  So whether that’s flax weaving or making beads, whether it’s making etchings or painting, those are the things that people make.

Carol:  How many people do you have come through here?

Maree:  We have about 50 people on the roll, as it were, and most days we most have 15-ish.  Some people come every day - not many, a few come every day, but most people have one or two days, it’s their special day.

Carol:  What role does Sandz play in the lives of some people who come here?

Samuel:  Yes, we’re more than just a building for people to come and make art.  We provide materials and people do make art here, but it’s a social experience and for some people that’s really the core of their Sandz time.  A place where they feel safe, where their friends are, where they connect with others and we’re just as much about that as we are about producing artwork or having exhibitions.

Richard: A lot of the creative spaces have studios and galleries, so there’s a front window to the community, to the street if you like, so that the artists really do have visibility and a general public can come in and see exhibitions and purchase the art which is really great.  So all of the artists and the studios in this campaign have shop fronts and that is another way for the community to purchase the art and be aware of it.  Also the general public can be engaged in supporting these studios and I really encourage that, and I’m really pleased that the studios are doing that, because it’s more than just the government’s job, or philanthropy’s job, anybody can help support their local creative space.

Carol:  Do you get many people walking in off the road?

Samuel:  We do get some people, yeah.  And the neat thing is we also hire out this gallery space, which brings in a different audience and allows us to talk a little bit about what we do here in the studio.

Carol:  Right, so other artists get to exhibit out there?

Samuel:  That’s correct.  And as well as the artists that we support showing in this gallery, we also like to extend their work to a broader context and look for opportunities outside of Sandz and Idea Services for them to show their work.

Carol:  So you’ve got these people who are sort-of the face of the campaign, but it’s about a lot more than that, isn’t it.

Richard:  These five artists, who are very brave volunteers that put themselves forward for this campaign, are representing artists with disability all over New Zealand, so they are like the vanguard, the front runners of this.  We only had room for one person on each poster, so they are representative of many others.  Now, Fraser Hoffe is a Wellington artist and he has two creative spaces that he works out of, Pablos and Vincents.  What Fraser’s really well-known for is remarkable sculptural paintings, three-dimensional works often, sometimes they’ll suspend in mid-air, like the one in CQ Hotels, there’s a huge sculpture that hangs in the atrium, and other works hang on the wall but they are very much three-dimensional, sculptural works.  Again, like a lot of these artists, they use more than one layer of colours, they build up textures through multi-media or through the choice of developed colour palettes.

Carol:  How do you describe your art, Fraser?

Fraser Hoffe:  Colourful.  Tactile.  Energetic.  What I really want for the viewer to see is the enjoyment of making and the enjoyment of colour and texture, so usually when people look at my artwork, they smile.

Carol:  Is that what you like them to do?

Fraser: Yeah.  That’s a reflection of me enjoying my artwork.  So that’s the initial emotion I like to prompt.

Carol:  How many days a week do you spend working in these creative spaces, I think they’re called, these community spaces, doing art?

Fraser:  I’m down here every day of the week.  So, it works out around 30 hours a week in the studio.

Carol:  Was there somebody in particular who said - how about coming down to this place called Vincents?  How did that all happen?

Fraser:  I knew Vincents was there, it was just taking my mind off what was going on in my life, so the uncertainty with getting accommodation, homelessness, and I can just focus on making something positive.  Before, for a long time I was focusing my mind on being negative, on being depressed, on being useless and gradually I built up my confidence and skills to create something positive, colourful and for other people to enjoy.

Carol:  How has art helped keep you well?  Or has it?

Fraser:  I have had to rebuild my life.  So art is a way of constructing my life for myself and having people seeing my artwork, having exhibitions and getting encouragement – not from authority, not from schools but from the community and other artists around me, from lots of different levels.  Getting encouragement from people who have struggled with communication themselves, you know, so there might be someone who doesn’t talk to anybody for a week and then they’ll come up and tell me - oh, I really like this - you know, or they’ll show enthusiasm for my artwork.  So I just had to be going into a place and using my hands and making things and finding ways of enjoying myself and re-engaging my brain and my body in life in a positive way.

Carol:  So the other artists, there must be all sorts of other people that you interact with daily?  Is that something that you enjoy, the interaction with the people that you meet at the studios?

Fraser:  Yeah, that’s something that keeps the artwork alive, is the variations of personalities and abilities – you’ve got people who’ve experienced all sorts of things and I’m never stagnant, there’s always something interesting that is happening.  And I really create strong emotional ties with the people who are important to me in developing my artwork. It’s not academic, it’s real.

Carol:  Do you wake up in the morning and think oh, yeah, I’m going to go down to the studio today!?

Fraser:  Yeah, all the time.

Carol:  You still look forward to it?

Fraser:  Yeah.  Absolutely.  I get excited about what I’m making, I get excited about putting the visions I have and making them real and the challenge of making something that’s never been done before – it’s exciting and I get a lot of pleasure out of that, yeah.

Carol:  Do you get to make a little bit of money from your art as well?

Fraser:  Yeah, I’ve been on a benefit while I’ve been doing this and I don’t get a transport allowance, I don’t get a food allowance. I’ve really tried hard to get into the studio every day and concentrate on the artwork and sell the artwork and get some extra money to supplement the benefit.  So it’s been going well and selling art drives me and I’ve got a philosophy that surrounds my artwork, which is; I have a healthy diet, have good exercise and if I look after myself then my creativity will look after me.

Carol:  Artist Fraser Hoffe there.  He’s the Wellington face of the nation-wide I am an Artist campaign.  You also heard from dancer Michael Krammer, artist Kamini Nair, Richard Benge from Arts Access Aotearoa, Sarah Nathan from Creative Waikato, and Samuel Nicholls and Marie Glass from Sandz Gallery.  There are some photos of Kamini’s paintings on the One in Five webpage.  If you’d like to see some of the other artists’ works and read their profiles, you’ll find them on the Arts Access Aotearoa website.  We’ll put a link to that on our page.  I’m Carol Stiles, and that was One in Five.  Until next week, kia ora mai.