Quiet Revolution - Art in the Hokianga
Written by Louise Evans
Morph is stepping out of her urban shoes and putting on her country boots, and heading north into the wilds of the Hokianga to a place that is home to a group of artists that are slowly but surely putting their village on the map.
Kohukohu is a quiet township by the tides, dotted with pretty villas, churches, halls and public buildings - some of the oldest in New Zealand. The village was once a thriving centre, and supported many industries, most notably kauri milling and dairy farming. Now the town’s population is about 150, and it services approximately 1000. Kohukohu is said to be quaint, charming, deserted, a backwater, sleepy and many other endearing and not so endearing descriptions.
These last few years have been significant in development of the artistic community of the Hokianga. In 2005 five creative Kohukohu locals had the idea to transform a derelict building in the main street into an arts centre. Village Arts was born from humble beginnings and no budget, and has tirelessly gained momentum through constant volunteer support.
Shortly after Village Arts opening, art tutor Sue Daly set up a year long fees-free visual arts course across the harbour in Opononi. The teaching encompassed art creation and arts marketing, which meant students were able to experiment in different mediums, whilst learning the skills to take their work to a commercial level. Now the course has become part of NorthTec polytechnic and is run from the Rawene campus and Whirinaki. Both Village Arts and Sue Daly’s course were formed from the idea of recognition and cultivation of the talents of Hokianga artists. And as a result a new, informed body of artists has been created, with an impressive level of craftsmanship and professionalism.
Rhys Evans and partner Claire Deighton are within this body, but what sets them apart is that they are young people in a rural area seeking to support themselves through their art. They’ve been together for 6 years and live just outside of Kohukohu at the Treehouse (the Evans family’s backpacker lodge and tree farm) where they work a few days a week in exchange for board. As artists, Rhys practises photography, and Claire paints. The course has allowed them to remain in the country but also to find ways of broadening their creativity. Rhys ‘saw art as a valid means of expression and an integral part of living. We are lucky to have Sue Daly as an art educator and mentor in the Hokianga, whose vision to further personal artistic goals within a community framework supports the sustainability of creativity in our communities.’
Claire, born and raised in Wellington, arrived by bicycle seven years ago on a mission to find a place in NZ to live. Her first port of call was Ngahuru Waiora, a land community 8kms North of Kohukohu. She was soon absorbed into the Hokianga life, and the quest to find a place to live and work began and ended right there -‘The simple pleasure of having my hands in the soil soothed my weary soul...the people I have met here are generous of spirit and knowledge, open minded and supportive of new ideas and, motivated and inspiring in their own endeavours.’ With a BA in theatre, training in Sydney in Body Weather Laboratory, and years of yoga practise, she has explored many physical mediums within the arts. However through the course she discovered she could paint, and wished to pursue it further. Drawing on her theatrical studies to interpret and connect with materials, she creates works intuitively and with the body rather than mind at work.
Claire’s summer studio lies in the old dwelling of Piglet the Great – the beloved porcine celebrity of Auckland’s Karaka Bay, who was evicted from Auckland City to come and live in the wilds. This is not your average pigpen, however. Piglet’s owner/biggest fan is architect Tony Watkins. His class at Auckland University designed a collection of interlocking hexagonal spaces made of aluminium gates. Nestled amongst the shelterbelts and a lazy stream, it possesses enough contemplative geography to directly inspire an artist and the rustling trees provide a shifting, persuasive soundtrack. Of her process she says – ‘I try to have a cup of tea in the studio before I start each day...It takes the pressure off a cold start. While drinking the tea, I look at the boards I'm currently painting on, the patina, holes, and markings. Next I make a few colours which resonate with what I perceive in the boards and begin to apply that in a quick way - trying to let the body do the work and keep the mind out of it. I work on several boards at a time.’
In the late summer she was in the process of painting two bodies of work. One is informed largely by Body Weather Laboratory wherein the use of colour, texture and tone (instead of movement in BWL) are informed by physical sensations on the body. The other body of work is inspired by Christian traditions in the Hokianga, traditional icon painting and the use of symbols in communicating ideas. ‘Making art is for me a blend of daily life, ideals and ideas of life and what I understand of composition, tone, colour, and form.’
Rhys was born in the Hokianga, and grew up at the Treehouse hostel – designed, built and managed by parents Pauline and Phil. They had emigrated to NZ in 1981 following a hitchhiking trip where they were shown some land which they immediately fell for. Their move from Sydney for an alternative life coincided with an influx of young families flocking into the area to buy up the old villas and fertile land. Childhood in Kohukohu during the ‘80s and early ‘90s was a time of a particularly strong community spirit, with families involved in raft racing days, community concerts, school ballets and musicals, and lots of craft artists sharing their work.
Rhys has since investigated and trained in his many curiosities - including aviation, music, community circus, teaching, web and print design, and computer consultancy. Since being accepted onto Sue’s course he decided to focus on photography, and is now constantly seeking new techniques and technologies to marry them with Hokianga’s unique landscape.
His photography can be extremely intellectual, or succinct in capturing the essence of the moment, something that of course defines most successful photographers. In describing his working environment and process he says ‘I prefer the ends of days, the half-light, the feeling of events past or imminent.’ ‘It may involve waiting for a seasonal change, the culmination of months of thought and practise - or the immediate alignment of circumstance, passing too quickly for contemplation.’
In order to live contentedly in the Hokianga, one must be able to flourish and relish in isolation. Stimulation often associated with an urban environment is almost non-existent here, yet stimulus can be defined by such things as weather, tides, seasons, community and the psyche of the population of an isolated area. Both Claire and Rhys draw on all Hokianga has to offer, and their interpretations result in striking, highly individual work. Rhys’ imagery is ‘derived from the light and pace of the Hokianga, from the interplay of human endeavour and the inexorable rapprochement of the natural world.’ Claire finds inspiration and comfort in the landscape – ‘It is defined in 3 sides by the Mangamuka, Warawara and Waima ranges which gives it a cradle-like feeling. The slow reliable rhythm of the harbour flowing in and out is extremely soothing.’
And it can’t be forgotten that for the arts to be supported, function, and thrive in rural areas, a huge amount of community input is required. Both Rhys and Claire volunteer at Village Arts gallery in Kohukohu. Their time, as well as numerous others’, helps to sustain its existence and provide a space that the locals can present their work in a professional white wall gallery. Resident photographer Marg Morrow and her partner John Wigglesworth recently bought the building and are heavily involved with both renovation and management. Marg now houses her photographic gallery in the premises too. With her extensive experience of producing high quality art for sale and for her photographic teaching within the community, the transition in supporting Kohukohu’s own arts institution was timely and welcomed.
Having such a gallery as a central feature of the village has kept the community engaged and informed with the work that the talented locals are producing, and indeed with the artists themselves. To his own work, Rhys has found the community’s response to be of ’contemplation and recognition, the appreciation gained by stepping back from the familiar to get closer to its essence.’ And of course the community itself is a diverse group of people from many backgrounds, and though small in population, it supports many sub-communities. As Claire describes it, community can be thought of as ‘people together either in location and/or ideas and/or common cultural or historical heritage. I believe that we all belong to many communities simultaneously.’
Claire and Rhys continue to go from strength to strength in seeking sustainability. Through the course they were encouraged to apply for the Enterprise Allowance, which they were both successful in receiving. It’s eased the burden of finding finances for materials, equipment and promotion. When the allowance ends in June, they’ll be stepping out into the brave new world of taking their art through the North and beyond. Rhys continues to supplement his income through computer work and Claire teaches yoga. They have travelled around the North Island, taking their art to galleries throughout the country, taking a little piece of the North with them as they go. With a number of exhibitions lined up for the rest of 2009, the year is flying by.
And like the tides of the Hokianga, everything is always moving and changing. With a fresh little studio built for the winter, Claire now drinks her morning tea safe from the rain, and is able to keep artistic momentum regardless of season. ‘I want to keep exploring materials, the language of paint. Keep exploring what it means to be human. One of my beliefs is that art is completed by the viewer in that they see the work filtered by their experience so they bring to it their own story. The work is a conversation. I'd like to involve the viewer more and more in my work so that the work itself is affected by the people who see, touch and experience it.’
Morph celebrates perseverance and the right to create and be created by an environment, be it in the country or city.
www.villagearts.co.nz
www.clairedeighton.co.nz
A place of shifting edges, the littoral transition, ephemera of past incursions.
A place of timeless change.
Character and characters.
A place where people gather to be apart.
Belonging.
Rhys Evans
February 2009
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