Creative ID: 220
Auckland, ideally West Auckland.
My arts or creative practice (including details about my specific focus within that art form/practice and my strengths)
I am a painter and installation artist with ongoing involvement with dance and performance arts.
My track record of experience and success - or the track record of experience and success of the creative or artist that I will partner with
I have exhibited nationally and internationally since 1987. Since 2007 I have specialised in using traffic signs as my artistic medium. This has allowed me to exhibit in galleries as well as make installations outdoors. My works are held in private and public collections in New Zealand and abroad. Collaborative projects include performances, installations, books, multimedia, and video works. I have a Master of Cultural and Creative Practice and Dean's Excellence Award. My research culminated in designing a methodology that would enable artists to work with schools, as well as other community groups to produce exhibitions and workshops. The dissertation is available online.
Describe the experience you have had working with children or young people, teaching or facilitating creative processes
I am passionate about contributing to arts in education by offering opportunities for young people to creatively explore and express issues close to them. My approach aims to inspire multidisciplinary and cross-curricular engagement and invite an exchange of perspectives between different ways of knowing. Experience of working with young people:
- I have had an artist residency at a high school and several other teenage workshops.
- Was awarded certificates from Human Rights Commission
- I have given many artist's talks/presentations at schools and a poster of my works went into primary/ intermediate schools as a teaching resource
- Themes in my work were inspired by being a parent and by working with young people and other students may choose them as a springboard for inquiry
- Former projects with young people were about exploring questions around the digital, that are not technological in nature but concerned with relationships.
For my recent exhibitions, I have been working with used traffic signs as a way to meditate on the impact technology (especially digital technology) can have on shaping and reshaping our bodies, our brains, and the planet.
Why I want to be part of the Creatives in Schools programme and how my involvement will link to my creative practice
I want to offer multi-disciplinary installation workshops at schools that aim to nurture, grow, and challenge young peoples’ own creative voices, expressions, and response-abilities. My programme aims to contribute to growing creative thinking and creative capacity in schools. When an artistic lens is used, things can stand in for other things; it is up to the individual to determine what they mean. A creative approach and frame of mind can empower young people to be open to experiences, to become aware and share things they would or could never otherwise express or describe. This can help them gain new perspectives, increases well-being, helps them access personal potential, and nourishes valuable skills for the future. When I teach I learn just as much. Being with young people teaches me a lot about today's world and challenges. This informs the work I make for exhibitions.