The Good Oil

In this episode, I sit down with Ōtepoti based artist Simon Kaan at Sanderson gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau.Simon is of Ngāi Tahu, Chinese and Pākeha descent. He has a Diploma of Fine Arts, with Honours, from Otago Polytechnic, and has works held in numerous public and private collections including The University of Waikato collection, at The Arts House Trust and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu collection. He has also been the recipient of several art awards and residencies. He is represented by Sanderson Gallery in Auckland, Gallery Thirty Three in Wanaka and De Nova gallery in Ōtepoti.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Simon Kaan Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear Simon speak about the influences of his Chinese, Māori and European whakapapa on his life and practice, how the absence of a Western art aesthetic growing up made art school more challenging, but also allowed him to create his uniquely own work, the significant influence of Marilyn Webb, his encounters with Ralph Hotere and a kind of parallel of Ralph's painting that Simon sees in his own work, and his ongoing collaboration with ceramicist and uku maker, Wi Taepa

In this episode, I visit Sarah Smuts-Kennedy at her home and studio at Maunga Kereru, in Mahurangi West, north of Auckland.Sarah has a Master of Fine Arts, with first class honours, from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. She is a multidisciplinary artist who has worked across photography, sculpture and painting, exhibiting in Australia and Aotearoa for more than 20 years. She has been the recipient of several art prizes and residencies, including the McCahon Residency Parehuia. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Te Haerenga Collection.She is represented by Laree Payne Gallery in Kirikiriroa.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Sarah Smuts Kennedy Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear Sarah speak about how she identified the need to move her practice from pictorialising problems to regenerating solutions, how her practice is guided by her spiritual team, that her art practice, her garden, her work in regenerative horticulture and her own healing are all closely linked, and that her time at the McCahon Residency allowed her to find a way into mark making and eventually painting that was nothing short of a revelation.

Kia ora, welcome to episode 37 of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode, I visit Richard Killeen at his home and studio in Tāmaki Makaurau.Richard is over five decades into one of the most celebrated practices in New Zealand. He has work held in numerous public and private collections, including The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū and the Fletcher Collection.He is represented by McLeavey Gallery in Te Whanganui a Tara and Ivan Anthony in Auckland.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Richard Killeen Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear Richard speak about the lessons that he took from the writing of James Joyce to apply to painting, how the interesting part of art is what you don’t see, his love for museums, how he has applied and always evolved the use of technology in his practice and why getting feedback from Philip Clairmont that his work was a disgrace to humanity was great to hear.

Kia ora, welcome to episode 36 of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode, I visit Raukura Turei at her studio in Tāmaki Makaurau.Raukura is Ngā Ra-u-ru Kītahi Taranaki, Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki.Her work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions including at, but not limited to, Season, The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, The Dowse Art Museum, day01 in Sydney Gadigal, Sumer Gallery, and at Corban Estate Arts Centre. Her work has also been included in numerous group shows, including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, and is held in collections including The Chartwell Collection and the Dowse Art Museum collection.Raukura holds a Masters of Architecture from the University of Auckland.There are images of the works that we talk about on The Good Oil Raukura Turei Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear Raukura speak about the benefits of working outside Western norms of art and drawing on whakapapa instead, the interesting overlap of the practice being in part driven by art skills acquired at secondary school, and then critical thinking from a degree in architecture, the first time she incorporated uku, or clay, into her practice, how she considers the work she does with uku to be a collaboration with it, and with equal parts confidence and humility, acknowledging that her practice sits with other Māori, and Māori wahine especially, practitioners and researchers past and present.

Kia ora, welcome to episode 35 of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode, I speak with Nigel Brown at Artis Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau.Nigel has work held in numerous public and private collections, including the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū, The University of Auckland Art Collection, The Fletcher Collection, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. He is represented by Artis Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau, The Division Gallery in Picton and Milford Galleries in Dunedin and Tāhuna.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Nigel Brown Instagram Post for your reference. A quick note of thanks to Lydia Baxendell for her excellent thesis, ‘Nigel Brown and NZ National Identity’ which proved especially useful research material. Thanks Lydia. In the episode you’ll hear Nigel speak about being witness to a tension between Colin McCahon and James K Baxter about the value of art school, what painting techniques he learned from McCahon and others to apply to his own practice, the reasons he includes text borders in works and the power of words, how he believes each painting can humanise space, and that he considers his practice a kind of research offering, as an alternative to accepted, formal research of academia.

In this episode, I visit Star Gossage at her home and studio in Pākiri.Star is Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Ruanui. She received a Diploma of Fine Arts from Otago Polytechic School of Art in 1995. She has work held in numerous public and private collections, including The Fletcher Collection, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The University of Auckland Art Collection and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū. In 2020 and 2021 her practice was the subject of a major survey show exhibited at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and in 2014 she was included in the Five Maori Painters exhibition held at The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.Star is represented in Tāmaki Makaurau by Tim Melville, and in Te Whanganui-a-Tara by Page GalleriesThere are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Star Gossage Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Star speak about how she was first drawn to painting by the texture of materials rather than images, the presence of the past, the present and the future that appear in her paintings, the finely balanced process of painting figures to capture their essence, a desire to return to creating purely abstract works, and her deep connection and still evolving understanding of place in Pākiri.

In this episode, I visit Jacqueline Fahey at her home and studio in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.Jacqueline was educated at the Canterbury College School of Art, that would later become the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. She is now into her 8th decade of what remains a remarkable painting practice. She has work held in numerous public and private collections, including The Fletcher Collection, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, The Aigantighe Gallery in Te Tihi-o-Maru, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The University of Auckland Art Collection and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetū.Jacqueline is represented in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland by Gow Langsford GalleryThere are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Jacqueline Fahey Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Jacqueline speak about how her practice is born out of hard work rather than talent (although we might beg to differ), of being willing to risk not being ‘acceptable’ in a societal sense to ensure she could pursue making paintings she wanted to, hiding in plain view with her painting trolley to capture domestic moments in the family home, what she sees in Goya paintings that are still painfully relevant today, and the necessity for her to keep painting at the age of 95, but talks about what might be, heaven forbid, her last painting.A couple of quick corrections before we get into the conversation. I refer to Jacqueline's cat as Elvis, their name is Alvin. Sorry Alvin. By the way you might also Alvin in the background in the episode. When discussing the painting ‘Look Mum They Killed Her’ about the killing of the American Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, I mistakenly refer to that event happening in Israel, it happened in The West Bank.Also please note, if you’re listening with any sensitive ears, Jacqueline and I refer to the title of a painting that includes an expletive.We started by talking about her friendship with, and valuable life lessons learnt from, Rita Angus.

In this episode, I visit John Brown at his home and studio in the Hawkes Bay.Among other qualifications, John holds a Bachelor in Art and Design from AUT, and has won the Kaipara Foundation Award in 2012 (which is the Swiss Residency award he refers to in our conversation) and the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award in 2019. John’s is a practice I’m excited to bring to your attention if you haven’t seen his work before. I first started really taking notice of his paintings only a few years ago, and in that time he’s evolved a really strong painting practice, both in technical execution and in representation of subjects, supported by years of engaging in other practice disciplines.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil John Brown Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear John speak about the thorough conceptual approach he takes with a subject before he even picks up a brush, but how that is then at least in part abandoned and replaced by the process of painting to create a work, the constant risk of him painting over what might be some of his best work, but also how he is unwilling to remove his mistakes because they contribute to such rich layering, the portraiture that is included in the work that you might never notice and how he deals with his self doubt of if he is even a painter, and if the work is any good.

In this episode, I visit Andrew McLeod at his home and studio in Whanganui.Andrews holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.He is now over 27 years into his practice, and his work is held in numerous public and private collections, including The Fletcher Collection, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, The Chartwell Collection, The National Gallery of Victoria, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and The Arts House Trust. He has been the recipient of art prizes and residencies, including the Tylee Cottage residency in Whanganui.Andrew is represented by Robert Heald Gallery in Wellington Te Whanganui a Tara and Ivan Anthony Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Andrew McLeod Instagram Post for your reference. This episode turns out to be, for me at least and I hope you, an excellent lesson in art history and how to look at paintings, both of which are Andrew actually talking about his practice. Although you’ll also hear him talk about being Gen X, and as a result what he’s not afraid of in painting, a want for his next painting to always be his best, how he views paintings as an arrangement of attention and a frozen choreography of brush strokes and how a key aspect of his job is to work in the visual subconscious world we all populate.Please note, if your’re listening with children or a priest present, Andrews enthusiasm in the interview leads to some occasional colourful language.

In this episode, I visit Seraphine Pick at her home and studio in Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.Seraphine has conducted a practice for over 30 years, in that time always exploring and evolving subject matter, use of materials and her overall approach to painting. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū and the Dowse Art Museum, and she has been the recipient of several awards and residencies, including the Rita Angus Artist Residency.Seraphine holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury.She is represented by Michael Lett Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland and Station Gallery in Naarm, Melbourne and Gadigal, Sydney.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Seraphine Pick Instagram Post for your reference.In the episode you’ll hear Seraphine speak about a want to not know how to approach a new mode of making to keep her practice interesting, her collaborations with ceramicist Jaime Jenkins and how that is influencing her practice, the sound and silence of her paintings, a want to more and more make paintings into objects and the need to see human vulnerability in paintings in the age of AI.

In this episode, I visit Darryn George at his home and studio in Ōtautahi.Darryn is of Ngāpuhi descent. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury and a Master of Fine Art from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The New Zealand High Commission. He has been exhibiting consistently for over 30 years, with work in over 40 group or solo shows, including in major public gallery exhibitions.He is represented by McLeavey Gallery in Te Whanganui A Tara, PG Gallery 192 in Christchurch and Milford Galleries in Queenstown.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Darryn George Instagram Post for your reference. In the episode you’ll hear Darryn speak about reconnecting with Maoridom and marae, developing his language through a combination of American minimalist abstract painters, kowhaiwhai patterns and Maori carvers, his willingness to work collaboratively across industries to achieve the best outcome in large scale painting, how his practice is influenced by and explores the intersection of Maori oral, and European written history and some advice from his gallerist Peter McLeavey that he’s never forgotten and still applies.

In this episode, I sat down with Martin Poppelwell at the Melanie Roger gallery surrounded by his new work included in a recent group show.Martin has established an impressive multi disciplinary practice, with paintings and ceramics complimenting one another.Martin’s work is held in numerous public and private collections locally and internationally, including Te Papa Tongarewa, the Lawrence B. Benenson Collection in New York, Reydan Weiss Collection in NZ/Germany and Reverend Ian Brown Collection, Australia.He is represented by SPA_CE Gallery in Napier and Melanie Roger gallery in Tamaki Makaurau.There are images of the paintings and ceramics that we talk about on The Good Oil Martin Poppelwell Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Martin talk about how important to his overall practice studying ceramic design and production at the Whanganui Polytechnic has been, the origin of his grid motif and how it contributes to composition and philosophical approach to painting, how Samuel Beckett provided a new perspective on what his painting could be, the challenges he deliberately creates for himself in paintings and the time consuming, multi layered process he follows to prepare the surface of a canvas to make it look like there isn’t any preparation at all.

For this episode, I visited Dame Robin White earlier this year at her home and studio in Masterton.Robin is one of our most distinguished painters, holding, among other qualifications, a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. She has been appointed as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to painting and print making and has been the recipient of numerous awards including the New Zealand Arts Icon Award.Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, The National Gallery of Victoria, The Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, The National Gallery of Australia and The Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She is also the subject of several books, including the excellent ‘Something Is Happening Here - Robin White’ by Sarah Farrar, Jill Trevelyan and Nina Tonga, and has exhibited widely, including a major retrospective show in 2022 and 2023.She is represented by McLeavey Gallery in Te Whanganui a Tara or Two Rooms gallery in Auckland.There are images of the paintings and tapa cloth that we talk about on The Good Oil Dame Robin White Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Robin talk about the power of working collaboratively, her time living in Kiribati, her first encounter with Sam Hunt and their resulting friendship, how geometry and tone sit at the heart of some of her most famous paintings, the Gaylene Preston film about her that is currently in production, and you know that question I ask everyone about ‘what work or artist work they would love to live with? Well, Robin has a particularly insightful answer to that.

In this episode I visit Gavin Hurley at his home and studio in Grey Lynn, Auckland.Gavin graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. His works have been exhibited at, or are held in collections of, the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū and The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, in Nelson. He is represented by Melanie Roger Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau and Space Gallery in Napier.There are images of the paintings and sculptures that we talk about on The Good Oil Gavin Hurley Instagram Post for your reference. You’ll hear Gavin talk about his inability to paint portraits of any living subjects, a misguided aspiration to be more business like (that nevertheless lead to a great body of work), the close and useful relationship between collage and painting in his practice, his love of old books and their paper stocks as reference and material, how mutton chop sideburns and beards make for great shapes to paint, and how revisiting works in preparation for a show at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery makes him realise how different life was when he painted them.

In this episode I visit Seung Yul Oh at his home and studio in Pt Chevalier, Auckland In the last 20 years since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and then Master of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, Seung has established a widely celebrated practice encompassing sculpture and painting.His work can be seen across Aotearoa, including at the Brick Bay sculpture park, as part of the exterior of the Te Pae Ōtautahi Convention Centre, and is held in numerous public and private collections including Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, The Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria.There are images of the paintings and sculptures that we talk about on The Good Oil Seung Yul Oh Instagram Post for your reference. You’ll hear Seung talk about how pleasantly surprised he was by his secondary school art classes in NZ, how his Sonority minimalist colour field paintings are an examination of self through colours, the wholly emotional approach to choosing colour for those abstract minimalist paintings, contrasted with trying to be as much like a soulless robot as possible in actually applying the paint to create them, the importance of getting lost to allow discovery, but how difficult that can be sometimes and how he pushes through that, and how new loose mark making abstract works have prompted him to pluck up the courage to return to working with oil paint.

In this episode I visit Michael Smither at his home and studio in the Coromandel.Michael is one of Aotearoa's most accomplished painters, exhibited his first solo show in 1961, he is now into the 7th decade of his practice. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including Te Papa Tonga-rewa, The Fletcher Collection, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū and The Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Michael has received several awards and honours, including being the recipient of the 1970 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship and he was appointed to the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 for services to the arts. He has also had several books about him published, including the comprehensive and excellent ‘Michael Smither - Painter’ by Trish Gribben.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Michael Smither Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Michael talk about the importance and influence of the 12 Stations of The Cross on him, and then his rendering of it for his then local church, St Josephs in Taranaki, poaching fish and painting political protests with Ralph Hotere, his love for English painter Sir Stanley Spencer and his influence on his practice, the relationship between his landscape paintings and his portrait paintings and the new, and I must say very impressive, series of portrait paintings of his Dr, Dr David Wilson.

In this episode I visit Emily Wolfe at Melanie Roger Gallery in Tamaki Makaurau while she was in Aotearoa for the opening of her show ‘Long Distance.’Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1996, then completed her Master of Fine Arts at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, graduating in 2000.Emily has exhibited consistently since then, with over twenty solo shows. She has several awards and residencies throughout the United Kingdom and is held in numerous public and private collections including the University of Auckland Art Collection.Emily is represented by Melanie Roger Gallery in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, Page Galleries in Te Whanganui A Tara Wellington and Benjamin Parsons in Oxford in the UK.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Emily Wolfe Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Emily talk about never being sure of a painting is going to work out, the hope that she’ll one day get better as a painter, spending too much time inside, including not being able to bring herself to leave the studio to join Don Binney's outdoor landscape class at Elam, the importance of imperfection in subject matter, the parallels she found in the layers of London clay and time as an archaeologist and layers of paint as a painter… and the joy she’s discovered in dehumidifiers.

In this episode I visit Ayesha Green at Jhana Millers Gallery in Te Whanganui-a-Tara before she embarked on a move to the United Kingdom.Ayesha is Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu. Among several qualifications, she has a GradDipArt, Specialising in Museums and Cultural Heritage, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts, both from the University of Auckland. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including Te Papa Tongarewa, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, The Dowse Art Museum, the MTG in the Hawkes Bay Tai Ahuriri and The Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She has exhibited at a number of public art galleries including the Tauranga Art Gallery,, Auckland Art Gallery, City Gallery in Wellington and Te Uru in Titirangi, and has a long list of awards and residencies to her name.Ayesha is represented by Jhana Millers Gallery.You’ll hear Ayesha speak about the sense of responsibility she has to her whanau, hapu and iwi in her practice, her want to interrogate and poke fun at propaganda, her relationship with Joseph Banks and the English Royal Family, the backhanded compliment that the current coalition government is paying to Māori and the role of botanicals and textiles in her paintingsWe started by talking about Ayesha's childhood.LinksAyesha Green Jhana Millers Artist Web PageThe Good Oil Instagram

In this episode I visit Laura Williams at her studio in Eden Terrace, Tamaiki Makaurau.Laura is a self taught artist that has a Masters in Sociology from the University of Auckland. She has numerous exhibitions under her belt, including work being shown public galleries including Te Uru Gallery in Titirangi, Auckland, the SUter Gallery in Nelson and at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and has work held in collections in Aotearoa, Australia and the US. She has been awarded several artist residencies, including the Wassiac Project Summer Artist Residency and the Golden Foundation Artists Residency. Laura is represented by Page Galleries in Wellington and Laree Payne Gallery in Kirikiriroa.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Laura WIlliams Instagram Post for your reference.You’ll hear Laura speak about how her paintings are her version of hoarding, her inability to resist being puerile and mischievous, how she has harnessed the power of her ADHD and Asberger's in her practice, the influence of her Catholic upbringing, not being able to square the lifestyles of some priests with the teachings of Catholicism verse the more dedicated lifestyles of nuns…and her perverse satisfaction of hearing people talking about not liking her paintings.Please note their are adult themes discussed in this episode - there are references to pornography and sexual assault, please make an informed choice about listening any further.We started by talking about Laura’s exposure to art as a kid and getting trouble with nuns.LinksLaura Williams InstagramPage Galleries Laura Willliams Artist PageLaree Payne Gallery Laura Willliams Artist PageThe Good Oil Instagram

In this episode I visit Claudia Kogachi and Josephine Jelicich at their home in Auckland.Claudia graduated with a BFA with first class honors from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. She has received numerous awards and art residencies including the Supreme Winner of the NZ Painting and Printmaking Award and Karakare House Artist Residency. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including The Dowse ARt Museum and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Punu O Waiwhetu. Claudia is represented by Jhana Millers in Wellington and Phillida Reid in London.Josephine has a BFA from Massey University, with an additional years study at Nelsons Centre For Fine Woodworking. Her work has featured in shows including at Depot Art Space and Object Space, and is held in numerous private collections.There are images of the paintings that we talk about on The Good Oil Claudia Kogachi and Josephine Jelicich Instagram Post.A quick correction and apology especially to Josephine's Mum Nina - I persist throughout the interview in incorrectly referring to Claudia and Josephine's show at Laree Payne Gallery as ‘Nina’s For Flowers’. The correct title of that show is ‘Nina or Flowers’. Please also excuse some occasional background traffic noise.I started by speaking just to Claudia, and you’ll hear her talk about how her paintings are an important record of memory, how she enjoys people identifying universal human themes in what are paintings of her personal experience and that her practice is an expression of joy and fun, but that it also helps her manage an awareness of mortality and grieving the loss of family.Then Josephine joined us and we spoke about how working together for a show made complimenting depends on each other's practices, their mutual admiration for one another's work and how Claudia doesn’t feel like a work is finished until it has one of Josephine's frames around it.LinksClaudia Kogachi InstagramJosephine Jelicich InstagramJhana Millers Claudia Kogachi Web PagePhillida Reid Claudia Kogachi Web PageLaree Payne Nina For Flowers Exhibition Web PageThe Good Oil Instagram