Just Imagine

Chris van Doren

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:29:10 +0000

Born of a Niuean mother and a Dutch father, Chris van Doren grew up in and around Waiuku. He gained his trades certificate in panelbeating.
Today the former panelbeater works full time at his art practice and his sculptural works have been greatly admired by a wide audience.
Chris’s copper and steel sculptures are navigational studies that investigate the idea of movement and in doing so he makes reference to the ancient seafarers in the Pacific. The pieces also investigate Chris’s movements in the present time.

Tina Cooper

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:07:43 +0000

One of the leading figures in Australian Studio glass, Tina uses nature – Earth, Fire, Water and Air to create her art, reflecting her passionate relationship with the environment from which she sources her inspiration.
Each sculpture is precise in it’s execution. Ensuring the perfect piece requires Tina to “dance with fire”, orchestrating five highly skilled artisans to work in unison to provide hot pieces of glass for her to create her magic.
Each piece is individually hand-made from liquid currents of molten glass drawn from a 1200c furnace and then fused, layered and placed around a vessel.
The “Sea Life” and “Enchanted Forest” series are full of floral and aquatic allusions inspired by the Great Barrier Reef and the beaches of the Sunshine Coats of Queensland, Australia.
Tina continues to create new series for exhibitions or spontaneously , while working in the studio.
It is Tina’s ability to impart and leave with the observer her deeply felt responses to Mother Nature, Life, Love,and Grief.
Tina Coopers creations are highly sought after and can be found in collections the world over, including Japan and the U.S.A.

Garth Dobney

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:01:35 +0000

As a mixed and multi-media sculptor, Garth’s pieces are primarily in copper, wood and cast glass.
His serious approach to artmaking began in the early 1990’s.
Since moving within New Zealand to Northland from Auckland in the mid 90’s, he has concentrated fully on working in the arts.
The period of time in the North has seen hos definitive style of artworks emerge as a metaphor for personal references to his life and environment.
Previous series have focused on stylised musical instruments, medieval weaponry and extracts from the natural environment.
Garth is currently working on a new series of Pacific inspired works.
These encompass tapa style features on cast glass, as well as stylised tapa tools.

Rebecca Shawyer

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:54:22 +0000

Rebecca Shawyer’s sculptures have been described as ethereal, intricately decorated carnival imagery, slightly unnerving, beguiling, grotesquely eerily beautiful, theatrical and intense. No two are ever the same.
For 13 intense years Shawyer expressed her creativity through Patisserie.
The majority of this was in Europe where in 1995 she won the prestigious British Dessert of the Year, and was Pastry Chef on Tour for Neil Diamond and Tina Turner.
After moving to Northern Italy, she became Prima Pasticcera at Italy’s first three star Michelin; the restaurant of renowned Italian chef Gvaltiero Marchesi- founder of Modern Italian Cuisine. Rebecca was also the first woman to work for World Champion Pastry Chef Iginio Massari.

In 2002 Shawyer returned to New Zealand to explore a more permanent medium for her creativity.

Approaching clay with the same obsessive dedication that saw her succeed in Patisserie, her unique sculptures are in demand with a waiting list for commissions.

Her works are in collections both in New Zealand and abroad. For safe transportation she now constructs them with detachable body parts.

Todd Douglas – Ceramics

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:54:50 +0000

Of Ngapuhi-Ngati heritage, Todd Douglas’ work employs a broad range of ceramic techniques and surface treatments including hand building and carving, which he often combines with slip glazing and beautiful macro-crystalline glazes. As well as refining and expanding on his signature work that is inspired by traditional Maori objects and concepts, he has recently been developing work that explores the rerlationships abetwen clay, space, light and movement. His ceramics are influenced by two worlds – the western practice of clay moulding and firing and the Maori tradition of carving and storytelling.
The joining of the two has resulted in a contemporary art practice that stretches the boundaries of clay and produces new possibilities for contemporary Maori art.
Using techniques inspired by early Maori carvings Todd has created work not only in ceramic but also in wood, stone, cast glass and bronze.

Barry Downs – Painter

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:53:51 +0000

Local and self-taught, Barry Downs is of Maori, Caucasion and Native American (Wampanoag) descent. From the inner Bay of Islands, he is inspired by his aboriginality and enjoys using a myriad of colour in his art. He considers himself fortunate to be able to create artwork that is unique. His style of painting is painstaking and time consuming but the rewards are pleasure and ongoing enjoyment.

Dino Rosin

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:52:56 +0000

Dino Rosin has lived his life on the island of Murano, surrounded by the glass factories and artists for which it is famous. Collaborating with Picasso, Chagall, Cocteau and Le Corbusier to recreate their works in glass required utilising entirely new techniques and methods. Calcedonia glass is his medium of choice and the process of creating its striated rainbow array of colour was developed in Murano in around 1460. The distinctive colors of Calcedonia, comparable to the stripes in a zoned agate, are created through the introduction of silver nitrate to crystal clear glass. Patterns found in each Dino Rosin sculpture cannot be controlled since the colors depend solely on the chemical reaction of each batch. As a result, every statue has the added element of chance.

Livio de Marchi – Wood

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:50:53 +0000

He has been described as “the world’s greatest living surrealist.” Applying ancient woodcarving techniques, Livio de Marchi creates lifelike coats, shoes, scarves and bags from stone pine, cherry and walnut, preserving the images as exquisite works of art. His sculptures are the centrepieces of many private collections all over the world, and he has been the subject of numerous documentaries in both Europe and the UK.
In his work there is a whimsical contrast between subject and material. The soft folds of cloth on a table, women’s underclothes hanging on a clothesline or the sensuous curves and mechanical detail of a full size Ferrari F50 are not the usual subjects of a wood carver. And this work, though carved from wood, is anything but wooden in the literal sense of the word.

James Nowak – Glass

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:00:06 +0000

Colourful abstractions of flora and fauna characterise the glass work of American artist James Nowak.
His unique style is influenced by the sea, and he has worked closely with many of the America’s finest artists including Dale Chihuly, Ben Moore, and Dante Marioni. James’ style incorporates the best of the old European techniques with newly developed processes and materials such as dichoric glass, glow glass, photographic glass and fluorescent glass.
The incorporation of these new materials with traditional Murano techniques like Filligrane canes and murini segments gives the work a contemporary flair with classical roots.

Dori Csengeri – Jeweller

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:59:42 +0000

Dori Csengeri is a much sought after international designer of original handcrafted fashion jewellery often described as ‘Modern Decadence.’ “Each piece is born from my heart, my love of colours and the long tradition of hand embroidery and textile design. The way I put together the silk cords side by side, with beads, stones, and other material, is my persona language.” While living in Paris, Dori started creating an original line of jewelry and fashion accessories, made in a needle work technique that is similar to the traditional “passementrie”. She set up her design studio in Tel-Aviv 20 years ago and developed her line of accessories and jewelelry with an original, fashion oriented, but personal touch. The collection is made in small, often changing series and includes one-off and limited edition creations.