Lunch time art bites and Zelda Bruce

Tauherenikau-based mosaic artist Zelda Bruce took more than a little piece of Wairarapa with her on a residency in Brenta, Northern Italy last month. Charged with producing an artwork while there on the theme of ‘The Window’, she got a head start by making a cluster of ceramic flowers at King Street Artworks which she packed carefully into her suitcase before jetting off to Europe.

She incorporated the flowers into a finished piece that was exhibited alongside the work of 16 other mosaic artists from Europe and Turkey, and this will remain in the historic town.
 
The two-week residency was a great opportunity to network with mosaic artists says the Wairarapa local who works and teaches at Zebo Art Studio, next to The Tin Hut. There was a double purpose to her trip as she had been invited to exhibit with French art collective L'Association Mare Nostrum in Paris on the strength of a member of the collective having seen her ‘Notes from the Heart’ exhibition at Aratoi at the start of this year.
 
Zelda says one of the highlights of the Brenta stay was working with a group of local teenagers. “There were always residents and art students popping in and out of the studio, and the teenagers really liked the concept of beautifying their village through mosaics.” A selection of Zelda’s mosaic hearts is featured in the Aratoi retail space. 
 
Also featured at the shop are works by award-winning NZ artist Madeleine Child who is unashamedly drawn to “things that come with inherent funniness, comic clumsiness, organic fecundity... popcorn, mudplops - small explosions…” She has studied ceramic and glass in New York, Lisbon and London and received awards here and in Australia. Her vivid popcorn works, which can be clustered on a table or hung on the wall, evoke childhood memories and bring to mind certain additive-saturated branches of the food industry.
 
‘Alphabet Art’ was inspired by a set of oil paintings given to a young Wellington boy by his Uncle Austin. From this gift an illustrated bedtime reading book featuring 26 original alphabet pictures by Austin Whincup was born. The accompanying verses are by Moria Wairama, a Wellington based storyteller, poet, playwright and teacher. Sturdily boxed, the 26 individual alphabet pictures can also be used as a frieze.

'Lunchtime Art Bites' start this week

A talk by Collection Manager Bronwyn Reid kicks off this new series of 15 minute lunchtime talks on the Rutherford Trust Collection. Other talks will focus on featured artists John Bevan Ford, Gordon Walters and Philippa Blair. This is a chance to explore New Zealand art history in an easy, accessible way. Weds 15 July - 12 August, 12pm - 12.15pm.

Exhibitions at Aratoi: King Street Artworks Annual Exhibition until 9 Aug; I See. I Saw, until 9 August; Selections from The Rutherford Trust Collection, until 16 August; Settling the Land: Order Out of Chaos, until 16 Aug; Wairarapa Whakaputa Mohio: Settling the Land, until 31 Dec.  School holidays art programme: Matariki / Optical Illusions, 15 & 16 July.