Resident Artists and Arts Organisations

Parsons holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, Christchurch (1990). He has exhibited extensively throughout Aotearoa in dealer galleries and public institutions. His works are held in several significant public and private collections including the Chartwell Collection (Auckland), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (New Plymouth), the Sargeant Art Gallery (Whanganui) and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Parsons has a number of public works around New Zealand, Numbers in Palmerston North, Invisible City in Wellington and Passing Time in Christchurch.
Parsons is represented by Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch.

jonathansmartgallery.com

@jonathan.smart.gallery 

antonparsons.com

@antonparsons

Founded as a collective of dance artists in 2000, Atamira translates as 'platform' or ‘stage’. One of Aotearoa | New Zealand’s leading contemporary dance companies, Atamira occupies a unique space in the arts landscape, renowned for their deep and mesmerising work.

Their choreographers and dance artists draw from Mātauranga Māori (knowledge), inspired by historical events, personal whakapapa (genealogy) and the cultural and political landscape of Aotearoa | New Zealand to create works that uplift indigenous world views through dance. Over 23 years of dance making, their collaborative research-based practice demonstrates an openness to risk-taking and experimentation, driven by choreographic and design excellence.

They have shared unforgettable performances by dancers, driven by a solid visionary team, with audiences locally, nationally, and globally in Australia, Noumea, the USA, Taiwan, Korea and China, and reach into communities through masterclasses and forums.

atamiradance.co.nz

facebook.com/atamiradance
instagram.com/atamiradancecompany
youtube.com/atamiradance
tiktok.com/@atamiradancecompany

Catherine Guevara is a Colombian visual artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Her body of work comprises education, curation, research, writing and ceramics.

An accomplished visual artist in her country of origin, Guevara moved to Auckland to deepen her practice by further understanding the relationship between Latin American and Pacific cultures.

As curator for the consulate of Colombia, she developed educational programmes and art workshops that aimed to help with the settlement of the Latin American community in Aotearoa, New Zealand. 

Guevara is passionate about exploring with clay and creating with kids!
Her art practice examines the process of ceramic-making, imbuing layers of clay with memory and history. Often collaborative and experimental, Guevara activates these vessels as meaning-making and storytelling tools. The results challenge our assumptions about the medium while enduring as deeply sensory objects.

Guevara is the creator of CfromCat and a member of Sur-Collective.

@cfromcat

@sur.collective

-

SELECTED PROJECTS & SHOWS

● X>1 Auckland Studio Potters / Depot Artspace, September 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Fire & Clay / Pah Homestead, August 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau
● A Place Worth Visiting / Arts Out East, Grant from Auckland Council, February 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Tutors Show / Makers Gallery, May 2022, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Nourish: Auckland Studio Potters Annual Exhibition / Allpress Studio, July 2021, August 2022, June 2023 Tāmaki Makaurau
● Feminine Reservoirs / Depot Art Space, Grant from Auckland Council, November 2022, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Community Projects / Programme Coordinator, Bogota Council, 2013 - 2017. Bogotá, Colombia

Chris Van Doren is of Niuean, Samoan and Dutch descent, and is based at the Pacifica Art Centre at Corban Estate. With a background in panel beating, Van Doren uses his trade-taught skills in his multi-disciplinary sculptural practice, incorporating mediums such as copper, stainless steel, wood and stone. He holds a vast knowledge and skill for sculpting with traditional art forms in both large and small-scale sculpture that explore his Pacific heritage. 

Van Doren has taken part in numerous exhibitions and symposiums across the Asia-Pacific and has been a three-time finalist in Aotearoa’s World of Wearable Arts. He took part in the Taitung Austronesian Cultural Festival in Taiwan (2009) where he collaborated with Indigenous artists from the tribes of Taiwan and the wider Pacific from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and New Caledonia. Van Doren has exhibited widely across Aotearoa and abroad, and in 2020 completed a Tautai Fale-Ship Home Residency.

@chris.van.doren.artist

A resident with Corban Estate Arts Centre since 2015, David McCracken is a sculptor best known for his innovative work in fabricated steel. Since his first solo exhibition in 2000 McCracken has experimented with water born sculpture and developing systems for large scale land-art installations.

Sculpting full time since 2003, his practice often concerns elevating humble, everyday objects into memorable, large-scale sculptures.

In 2013 McCracken was recipient of the Parsons & Brinckerhoff Award for Excellence in Engineering at Headland Sculpture on the Gulf and winner of the Wallace Arts Trust NZ Sculpture Award. In 2017 he was selected for the exhibition Not then, not now, not ever in Berlin, along with artists from 31 countries including Anish Kapoor, Kiki Smith and Miroslaw Balka. He has exhibited widely at outdoor exhibitions including Headland Sculpture on the Gulf (Waiheke Island), Shapeshifter (Lower Hutt), Sculpture in the Gardens (Tāmaki Makaurau) and Sculpture by the Sea (Sydney). McCracken has commissioned sculptures across Aotearoa and internationally, his most recent being Soft Focus, Summers Day was installed at Oruamo Domain, Tāmaki Makaurau in 2022.

McCracken lives in Tāmaki Makaurau where he is represented by Gow Langsford Gallery.

Eloiza Montaña is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer who has worked in theatre, dance, video-art, jewellery and craft. Montaña considers her local community and environment to be of upmost importance to her, and her practice often focuses on partaking in social art projects.

Montaña was born in Uruguay and was raised in Barcelona before recently moving to Tāmaki Makaurau in 2017, where she is currently based at Te Henga. Recently, she has taken inspiration from the local native bush in the Waitakere Ranges. Her most recent project, titled The Fallen Leaf, includes jewellery made from the seeds and leaves from native trees such as Kauri and Pōhutukawa.

For more info:

https://www.eloizamontana.art/en

@thefallenleafnz

Florence Ulutunu is a multidisciplinary artist of Sāmoan descent, whose creative practice is deeply rooted in her heritage and passion for environmental sustainability. With connections to the villages of Si'umu, Sāmusu, Sātupa'itea and Faleū, Florence draws on the cultural legacy is these places to inform and inspire her work. Her current artistic journey centres around the revival and reimagining of siapo making- an ancestral practice that involves the creation of barkcloth adorned with cultural patterns, often used for ceremonial and storytelling purposes.

Florence's practice is not only a reclamation of cultural heritage but also an exploration between practice, identity and memory. Through this work, she examines how cultural practices shape and preserve collective identities, and how these traditions can be revitalised in contemporary times and spaces. In her art, Florence seeks to bridge the past, present and future, weaving together traditional techniques with contemporary interpretations to reflect the complexities of Sāmoan identity.

Her process is both an act of personal reconnection and communal engagement with her roots, creating space for dialogue around cultural preservation, transformation and the role of the cultural arts in maintaining a sense of belonging and continuity across generations.

@flo_ulutunu

Giles Smith is a multi-disciplinary artist and set designer. He was previously based in London, UK, where he studied Fine Art Painting at St Martin’s School of Art. His studies fostered an interest in decorative arts. Consequently, hee started working at a high-end gilding and restoration business before moving to Aotearoa in 1994.

It was upon his arrival that Smith began work in the Film and Television industry. Over the past twenty years he has developed a unique set of production skills working on large-scale film projects including The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), Narnia: Prince Caspian (2007), Yogi Bear (2009), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 2 (2014) and Pete’s Dragon (2015).

Smith’s ability to work at both large-scale and small-scale gives flexibility to his art practice in which he can employ his unique skill-set to explore new forms and subjects.

Gillian Appleby is an artist who predominantly works with the figure in oil. Appleby uses everyday media and photography as the starting point in her works, but often the paint takes over and means that the material dictates the final work. Over the painting and sketching process, Appleby’s works blur fiction and reality as she seeks to create tensions between illustrative and material investigations around the figure.

Appleby lived in the UK where she studied in London at the now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Appleby holds a Bachelor of Art and Design from the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland where she currently lives and works. She has exhibited nationally in Napier, Hastings and Auckland, and her work has exhibited several times in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards (2015, 2017, 2019).

Appleby currently exhibits with Parnell Gallery in Auckland and Tennyson Gallery in Napier.

www.gappleby.co.nz

Jesu Vasquez-Lesser is a Chilean visual artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Her artistic practice includes sculpture, puppetry, mixed textile techniques, and oil painting.

Vasquez-Lesser's interdisciplinary artistic work is based on experimenting with different media and forms of expression. She is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Auckland, researching religious art, collective memory and grief. The theory and the practice come together in what she considers to be political art.

Vasquez-Lesser's aesthetic mixes women from the feminist movement in Chile, migration, religious iconography and grief in all its forms.
Her artistic practice is intrinsically linked to education; having taught all ages from children to university students (Chile/Spain/Aotearoa, New Zealand), in addition to her own studio/workshop, which is still running in her hometown of Coquimbo.

Vasquez-Lesser is a member of Sur-Collective.

@quiltra.artspace

@sur.collective

-

SELECTED PROJECTS & SHOWS

● Community Knots: Weaving Stories / Grant from Auckland Council, 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Bilbo Arte / Bilbao, 2016, Basque Country
● Contemporary Jewellery Competition 3rd place / Casa Colorada, 2014, Chile
● Equinox Festival / Woven Installation, 2014, Chile
● Contemporary Jewellery Competition Finalist / Casa Colorada, 2013, Chile
● Umbrales Exhibition of the ten best degree exams (Bachelor of Fine Arts) / Universidad Católica, 2013, Chile

Juliana Durán is a Colombian practising visual artist who came to Aotearoa, New Zealand after receiving a scholarship to complete a Master in Fine Arts at ELAM, Auckland University. Her most recent achievement was receiving the Small Sculpture Prize in 2022 by Perpetual Guardian in association with Te Motu Vineyard and the Waiheke Community Art Gallery.

Durán's work aims to explore the capabilities and particularities of found materials as a response to“De-growth” and upcycling, a central value within her practice. With a solid graphic background, her experimental setups blur the limits between sculpture, installation and relational art.
The relationship between place and space, social constructions around the sense of belonging, and the conception of home and the sacred are themes that prevail in Durán's projects.

Durán is a member of Sur-Collective.

@_hulianaa_

juliana-duran.com

@sur.collective

-

SELECTED PROJECTS & SHOWS

● Tropical Debris / RM Gallery - May 2023, Tāmaki Makaurau
● 2022 Small Sculpture Prize / Waiheke Community Art Gallery - June 2022, Waiheke
● Sampler / Depot Art Space - December 2021, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Rizoma / Studio One Toi Tu - October 2020, Tāmaki Makaurau
● Islands / The Performance Arcade - February 2020, Pōneke
● 4 Metres from my Pituitary / Colombian Consulate - March 2019, Tāmaki Makaurau
● 4 Metres from my Pituitary / ELAM Grad show - November 2018, Tāmaki Makaurau
● In between lines / Projectspace - August 2017, Tāmaki Makaurau

Inspired by the ancient symbolism and rugged coastline of her Cornish homeland, Julie Moselen’s stone and metal sculptures explore the dualities of light and shadow, softness and strength, the masculine and the feminine. The elegant forms adhere to the complex mathematical patterns repeated in the natural world, with curvilinear twists that defy the strength and rigidity of the raw material, inviting the viewer to a moment of quiet repose.

Each work is sculpted entirely by the artist, from the intense physical labour of cutting, welding, grinding and shaping steel with handmade tools, to the precise application of surface treatments.

Moselen completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Metalcraft and Jewellery Design before moving to Aotearoa in 1998 and founding her own contemporary jewellery studio. Over the following decades she expanded her practice to encompass printmaking, painting and stone-carving, before settling on sculpture.

Moselen has shown in Aotearoa and Britain at sculpture events and various exhibitions such as NZ Sculpture on Shore and Sculpture on the Gulf. Her work is held in several private collections. She is currently an artist in residence at Corban Estate Arts Centre and is represented by Black Door Gallery.

@juliemoselenartist

Ki te mea ka taka te kākano ki te wāhi e tika ana ka tinaku, ā, ka pihi ake he tipu hou.
If a seed falls in the right place it will germinate and a new seedling will sprout.

Kākano Youth Arts Collective developed from a pilot programme in 2013 as a response to recognising the needs of some of the most vulnerable young people in West Auckland; all of whom have struggled with mainstream education. Since then it has grown and to a hugely successful initiative, and has changed the lives of many young people.
Kākano runs 3 studio sessions a week, and currently has approximately 20 young people in the Collective aged between 12 – 20 years. We work closely with Oranga Tamariki, Police, Alternative Education Providers, Youth Services, and Local Government to collectively address the barriers they face. Under the guidance of highly experienced tutors, all of whom of practising multi-disciplinary artists, our young people are given the opportunity to develop their art practice, their confidence and their self-worth.

Alongside studio sessions, Kākano has a strong presence in the wider community, creating murals and artworks for public spaces. These mural projects provide our artists with the opportunity to meet with a client, work to a brief, develop a design, work to a budget, and record the process to show future clients their work. Through this process the group develops real, tangible skills that can be applied to multiple pathways in the future.
Through our studio sessions and external projects, Kākano creates a learning environment where young people discover how to harness their natural abilities, develop skills and self-discipline in order to forge a better future for themselves.

Kākano Youth Arts Collective is a very unique and special programme. We are about so much more than just creating art. We are a whānau, and for many in the group, this is the only place where they can feel supported, safe and free to be themselves.

@kakanoyoutharts

A local to Waitākere, Kelly Reichardt is a multi-disciplinary artist who predominantly works in photography, water-colour and mixed media in her practice. A survivor of both recent and historic trauma resulting in C-PTSD, Reichardt uses artistic expression to make sense of her emotions and inner dialogue. A strong realism permeates her work and themes of the female form, nature, and beauty are regularly featured. Reichardt holds a Diploma in Art and Creativity (Hons) from the Learning Connexion (Wellington) and was the recipient of the Oriel Hoskin Scholarship (2017-19).

@kellyreichardt_art

Influenced by landscape and space, Kevin Osmond's artworks explore a gamut of different phenomena — from cloud formations and water droplets to topographical configurations, celestial explosions and other investigations of space. Meticulous and experimental, he transforms the mundane into the mesmeric.

Osmond builds up complexity and interrelation from the repetition and adaptation of simple forms, utilising a wide range of materials and mediums. He captures the energy in the world around us through complex sculptures, wall-based optical artworks, meditative drawings on paper, and freehand routed panels.

Solo exhibitions by Kevin Osmond have been held at the Davidson Gallery in New York City, USA, and, most recently, at the Dominik Mersch Gallery in Sydney, Australia. His artworks currently reside within American, European, Australian and New Zealand art collections, and have also been exhibited at major art fairs throughout the USA, including Art Basel Miami.
Osmond has created installation artworks for a variety of London-based clients including: The Economist, Penguin Books HQ, The Royal London Hospital and Credit Suisse (Canary Wharf). In Auckland, he has been commissioned to create artworks for Massey University of New Zealand and, in 2021, he completed two monumental-scale works for the new PwC Tower at Commercial Bay on the waterfront in Auckland’s CBD.
Born in the UK, Osmond studied Fine Art in London, gaining an MA from The Royal College of Art and a BA from the Chelsea College of Art. He has been the recipient of a number of UK art prizes, including the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award, the Credit Suisse First Boston Sculpture Prize, and the Penguin Books Sculpture Prize.

Throughout his career, he has been featured in a variety of publications, including The Sunday Times (UK), Urbis (NZ), Houses (NZ) and Time Out London (UK).
Osmond currently lives and works in New Zealand, and has a large studio at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in West Auckland.

 
@kevin_osmond_art 

Liz Mitchell (MNZM) is one of Aotearoa’s leading fashion designers, specialising in bespoke tailoring. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Mitchell's passion is for the handmade craftsmanship of couture- creating clothes of timeless elegance and quality.  

Mitchell’s journey began before she graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1979, where she earned her Bachelor in Fine Arts. As a student she’d made items for emerging boutiques, including punk designer Miranda Joel’s Pussyfooting. She also did costume design for David Blyth’s 1979 punk film, Angel Mine, and costumes for Mary-Jane O’Reilly’s fledgling Limbs Dance Company. 

In 1981, Mitchell got an Arts Council grant to study at the Australian Opera Company. Two years later she headed to London on a British Council Grant to work with designer Russell Craig, whom she’d met in Auckland.  They worked on productions for the English National Opera, the Scottish Opera and Opera North, before she returned to a design job at the Mercury. 

Her UK experience had taught her that Kiwi designers had much wider opportunities than their British counterparts. She applied for a job as a costume designer with Television New Zealand in 1984 thinking it would lead to set designing. Instead it was to open the doors to her future career in the fashion industry. 

The first TVNZ assignments on the Steel Riders and Seekers series were with producer Janice Finn, who was busy developing a local soap opera.  Set in the offices of a fashion magazine controlled by the wealthy Redfern dynasty, Gloss premiered in 1987. Its over-the-top fashions quickly became even more compelling for viewers than the scandalous storylines. As well as creating new garments each week, the design team led by Mitchell and Enid Eriksson, borrowed from local fashion houses such as Zambesi, Marilyn Sainty and Trelise Cooper. No one minded the exposure, and Liz developed networks within the fashion industry.  

Having worked behind the scenes on the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards, Mitchell decided to enter and won the ‘Lifestyle’ section award in 1990, the year she officially launched her label. She’d won a second Benson & Hedges award in 1992. 

Today, Mitchell's passion for wool has translated to the art of felting, which she uses to craft contemporary bespoke designs, art pieces, and homewares. In her Grey Lynn showroom, she seamlessly blends her signature theatrical glamour with an increased commitment to sustainability. Mitchell has recently procured new felting machinery and is in the process of establishing a Wool and Natural Fibres Textile Hub at the Corban Estate Arts Centre. This will serve as a hub for wool research and creative exploration, hosting workshops and inspiring the next generation to explore the world of innovative textiles. 

Excerpts from New Zealand Fashion Museum Stories on Liz Mitchell, written by Katherine Findlay:

nzfashionmuseum.org.nz/liz-mitchell

lizmitchell.co.nz

@lizmitchellnz

In Loving Memory of Macky McCracken (2010-2024)

Macky McCracken was our long-time resident canine-in-charge at Corban Estate Arts Centre. Lover of the arts, professional sunny-spot seeker and fine sausage connoisseur, Macky was appointed patron of the Corban Estate Arts Centre Saturday Gallery Club in 2023.

A firm but fair critic, many Corban Estate resident artists and visitors alike looked to Macky for guidance - or as their muse - taking inspiration from his laissez-faire attitude towards life.

If he wasn't mooching around the sculptors studios with his human David McCracken - or following closely behind his close friend Tony Brown, Macky could generally be found keeping a tight leash on any other canine activity at Corban Estate. He is sorely missed by all that knew him.

Martin Selman’s works are an exploration of the potent visual and inherent qualities of marble. 

He is represented by Ivan Anthony Gallery in Auckland.

@martin_selman_sculpture

In the late 1980’s before Corban Estate was purchased by Waitākere City Council, a group of Pacific artists were invited to use one of the empty wine barrel sheds to share, revive and grow their combined knowledge and skills in Pacific arts and cultures.

Under the guidance of Pacific Arts Advocate and Master Artist Mary Ama, this collective became known as the Pacifica Mamas and Papas, and over time, their efforts were widely recognised.   Eventually, they moved onto their own dedicated space within the Corban Estate - which they still call home today.

Now, a leading organisation for the development of Pacific arts, cultures and community, the Pacifica Arts Centre is the realisation of steadfast vision and hard work, with a special focus on the preservation of Pacific heritage arts practices through school education programmes and activities.

While each day of the week is dedicated to different community groups who use the space for their own sharing, and revival; the Pacifica Mamas continue as the beating heart and soul of the Centre, providing public workshops in the traditional art forms of Tivaevae, Tapa, Weaving, Ei Making as well as Music, Drums & Dance.

Advocating for the raising up of Pacific artists of all disciplines, Mary Ama’s daughter Jarcinda Stowers-Ama honours her mother’s legacy in her role as Director with the same dedication and generosity.

To learn more about workshops, events and school visits at the Pacific Arts Centre visit:

pacificaarts.org |  @PacificaArtsCentre

Pita Turei (Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngā Rauru Kiitahi) is a creative collaborative practitioner and multi-disciplinary artist. Turei is a local iwi advocate who has become known as a noted storyteller and respected orator connecting a new generation with the ancient histories of Tāmaki Makaurau. Turei began his career in theatre and dance, working with organisations that toured both nationally and internationally including the Adelaide Ballet, Limbs Dance Company and Taiao Dance Theatre. He has since worked widely across the creative industries and spent many years in the film industry as a director, actor and photographer while also being significantly involved with Ngā Aho Whakaari Māori On Screen.

Turei has worked on several large-scale public art projects across Tāmaki Makaurau including at the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Waterfront, Spaghetti Junction, SH20 Landscape Design and Te Wao Nui Auckland Zoo. He was a finalist in the Te Wero Bridge Design competition. Turei is currently a member of Taumata-ā-Iwi advising Auckland War Memorial Museum and joined the Waitakere Arts and Cultural Development Trust Board in 2022.

@pita.turei

@tureipita

Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kītahi), is a multi-disciplinary artist, architect, and māmā who through her research into atua wāhine and her journey in reconnecting with her whakapapa led her to painting with whenua as a tool to connect to her tīpuna.

With a focus on whenua and whakapapa, Turei uses natural materials such as aumoana (blue clay), kerewhenua (ochres) and onepū (black iron sands), collected primarily from areas associated with her upbringing, such as Te Uru and Tikapakapa Moana in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Her artwork has been exhibited throughout New Zealand including Toi o Tāmaki - Auckland Art Gallery; Toi Moroki - CoCA, Ōtautahi Christchurch; Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; Te Pātaka Toi - The Adam Art Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; Bartley and Co, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, The Dowse Art Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara; Sumer Contemporary, Tauranga. Internationaly she has shown at the Tokyo Art Fair; Day01 Gallery, Sydney and the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair.

raukuraturei.com

@raukura.turei

Red Leap Theatre has made innovative and unforgettable theatre since 2010. Under the Artistic Direction of Ella Becroft, Red Leap is based in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand and tours nationally and internationally.

Red Leap is a devising theatre company, dedicated to innovating theatrical form through the intersection of dynamic physicality, arresting imagery, and inventive original storytelling.We strongly believe in the strength of collaboration to celebrate the power of the imagination.

redleaptheatre.co.nz

@redleaptheatre

Sistar S’pacific aka Rosanna Raymond is an innovator of the contemporary Pasifika art scene. She is a long-standing member of the art collective, the Pacific Sisters and a founding member of the SaVAge K’lub. Over the past twenty years, Raymond’s activities have made her a notable producer of, and commentator on, contemporary Pacific Island culture in Aotearoa and internationally. She specialises in working within museums and higher education institutions.

Raymond has achieved international renown for her performances, installations, body adornment, and spoken word. A published writer and poet, her works are held by museums and private collectors throughout the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Aotearoa. Raymond is an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Archaeology at University College London and a former Chesterdale Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (2017). She was the Pacific Artist in Residence at Government House (2017) and is currently a researcher for the AUT Marsden funded project Vā Moana.

www.savageklub.com

@rosannaraymond

@savageklub

@pacificsisters

Sculptor Stephen Woodward’s practice is primarily interested in the political. Working with an eclectic range of media ranging from ceramics, bronze, stone and volcanic basalt, Woodward’s sculptures are subtly integrated into, rather than being starkly imposed onto, the landscape. He presents landscape and landforms as images to critique human nature; particularly the human need to overlay everything with notions of productivity, settlement and identity.

Canadian-born, Woodward studied Fine Arts at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada). He began marble carving in Italy working alongside artisans tasked to scale up sculptures for artists including César Baldaccini, Barry Flanagan, Helaine Blumenfeld and Michelangelo Pistoletto. Since arriving in Aotearoa in 1986, Woodward has focussed on large-scale, site-specific sculptural works and has exhibited in public events such as Sculpture on the Gulf and Sculpture in the Gardens. He has exhibited in a range of exhibitions both nationally and internationally in China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and New Caledonia.

@stephenwoodward_sculptor

Te Pou Theatre is a kaupapa Māori theatre for all, located in Corban Arts Estate Centre. Embodying the literal meaning of its name ‘The Support Post’; acting as a constant and reliable presence for our performing arts community and Māori storytelling in Tāmaki Makaurau and abroad.

Since opening in 2015 they have become the home for tikanga Māori-led performing arts experiences with a curated annual programme for audiences and artists including their Whakaari programme of shows, an annual Kōanga Festival and opportunities to develop arts practice through their Whakapuāwai and Rangatahi programmes.

tepoutheatre.nz

@tepoutheatre

Ko Kohukohunui ko Maungaroa ko Pūhanga Tohorānga Maunga
Ko Wairoa ko Waikato ko Mangatawa nga Awa
Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua ko Tainui nga Waka
Ko Ngāi Tai ko Waikato ko Nga Puhi nga Iwi
Ko Ngāti Te Raukohekohe ko Ngāti Tamaoho ko Ngai Tuteauru nga Hapū
Ko Umupuia ko Whatapaka ko Pukerata nga Marae

Tessa Harris (Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki) is a weaver and multi-disciplinary artist who works with various mediums including stone, glass, wood and natural fibres from Aotearoa. Harris holds a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts (Whakairo) from Te Waananga o Aotearoa. She has been weaving for over 15 years and is a member of the weaving collective Te Roopū Raranga o Tāmaki Makaurau. Harris’ stonework features hand finishing with sandstone and her designs, patterns and styles are based from traditional Mahi Kohatu (Māori stonework) under the guidance of artist Rossi McCabe. Harris been involved in various projects and exhibitions throughout Aotearoa.

@taonga_toi

Trixi Rosa is an artist and māmā raised in Punakaiki, Te Wai Pounamu. Her interdisciplinary art practice weaves ritual and writing into immersive installation, poetry and performance. Her mahi navigates questions of identity, place, intimacy and belonging. 

Trixi has published, performed and exhibited locally and internationally with the likes of, Takahē (NZ), Genre: Urban Arts (USA), Depot Artspace (NZ), Melbourne Writers Festival, The Bowery Poetry Club (NYC), Chopin Theatre (Chicago), and The Wheeler Centre (AUS). 

She lives with her whānau on the West Coast of Tāmaki Makaurau, working on community development and arts engagement projects with various local community organisations.

www.instagram.com/trixirosa

Mokonuiarangi (Moko) Smith (Te Arawa, Takitimu, Horouta, Tainui) is a tā moko artist dedicated to the revival of traditional hand tapping tools for tā moko and tā tatau. His work made with the tools known as uhi draws on traditional and contemporary aesthetics while working within tikanga and modern hygiene practices. After training under his teachers Croc Coulter and Inia Taylor, Moko established Uhi Tapu as a handle to hold an online and physical space for the development and continuation of this practice. Uhi Tapu is made up of many helping hands who continue this work at Corbans Estate Arts Centre, where they are available for consultation through appointment.

moko-smith.com

@uhi_tapu

Waitākere Arts are in the business of making and exhibiting art, both for enjoyment and for those who would like to take a more professional approach.
To their members they offer Open Sessions and subsidised Workshops and Classes in painting, drawing, craft, photography, mixed media and assemblage.
Waitākere Arts have members who are keen to mentor others in the arts. To learn more contact Waitākere Arts via email: wccac@xtra.co.nz to let them know how they can assist.

waitakerearts.com

@waitakerearts

Whaotapu are a collective of Tohunga Toi Ake who have been recognised and mandated by their tribes for generations. Acknowledged as traditional knowledges holders, experts, and authorities of Māori art, culture, heritage, Whaotapu are supported by mana whenua whānau, hapū, iwi, matawaka, and communities across Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa, weaving people together through a kaupapa that is both transformative and enduring.

The Mana Whenua Puawaitanga and Launch of Whaotapu occurred in 2014, when Mana Whenua Rangatira and Kaumatua of Tāmaki Makaurau, and hapū, iwi of Aotearoa, gathered together in honour of the historical kaupapa of bringing the Tohunga Toi Ake together as a collective. Mana Whenua agreed that to futureproof the legacy of Tohunga Toi Ake, they would support Whaotapu to preserve and protect of the ancient first language of Māori - Toi.

whaotapu.com

@whaotapu