Established in 1974 by a group of young jewellery makers to promote their work, Fingers has become synonymous with innovation and originality and the development of an indigenous style of contemporary New Zealand jewellery.  Fingers has been at the forefront of treating and displaying the craft object as art, and has constantly challenged the notion of what is precious. As the oldest contemporary jewellery gallery in New Zealand, Fingers has become an institution recognised locally and internationally, providing a platform for many artist's careers.  In this episode I speak with jewe ..read more

Bailee Lobb is a queer, disabled artist born in Whanganui, Aotearoa, 1989 and now based in Wellington. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with textiles, colour, and movement to create sculpture, installation, and performance artworks that explore art as disability access and care. In this enlightening episode Bailee talks about how she felt as a teenager, as a person who was dealing with undiagnosed autism and how her artwork now responds to and nurtures her disability. She shares how she started her studies in architecture at uni in Aotearoa, why she changed degrees and went on to s ..read more

GUEST UPDATE: Textile artist Frankie Meaden was last interviewed on the podcast in July 2023 in episode 87. Today we catch up with her to hear about what she has been up to since then - including a residency, her first solo show, a group show at Turua Gallery coming up and the creation of new works. She was also involved in and a finalist in the Changing Thread’s Contemporary Textile and Fibre art awards 2024 show (which she forgot to mention in our chat!) Her group show at Turua Gallery with Agate Rubene and Sam Leitch: Contemporary Creations of Colour August 23rd - September 4th 2024 Openi ..read more

Esther is a photographic artist living in Greytown in the Wairarapa. She has had a long successful photographic career firstly in wedding photography then in project and portrait photography. Her personal fine art photographic practice has become her main focus since 2020. At her core Esther loves to illuminate others and give them their opportunity to shine. She is passionate about giving people a voice and is interested in the emotion and story behind a work. It's important to her to balance this with her desire to create, experiment and explore, and to be curious - in a less conventional w ..read more

Julie Battisti is a painter who grew up in Melbourne Australia and moved to Aotearoa New Zealand with her husband in 2017, settling first in Rawene in the North Island then going on to make Dunedin her home. Julie's paintings currently have two significant themes; clouds and flowers. Both are studies of light and texture.  In this episode Julie shares how she sources and chooses the flowers she paints, how she creates her floral compositions and her floral painting process from underpainting and taking photographs to painting the final details and how she approaches colour. We discuss her ..read more

Chris Melville is a photographer, graphic designer and jazz musician living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.  In his latest photographic collection, Chris uses household items and a slow shutter speed to create landscape compositions, suggesting dreamy lakes or mountains appearing from the mist. Chris currently works with linen, denim, smooth cotton and coarse hessian, creating visual layers and textures. The resulting images, while being made entirely of practical human-made objects, speak of the mystical natural New Zealand environment, referencing Colin McCahon paintings through their min ..read more

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 r ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more