Art for the artists’ sake

Responding to the cutbacks to the arts in New Zealand, artist Julia Holden wants to highlight the work of her fellow creatives through her own art practice. She talks to Rebecca Fox about her mission to turn 44 creatives into portraits.

A wine maker, architect, bread baker, art educator, jeweller, musicians, a poet, painter, comedian - Julia Holden has ticked off quite a few of the 44 creatives on her list.

She has begun a long-term project, "The Artist", aimed at highlighting the work of New Zealand’s creative industry, which is facing ongoing cuts to its funding.

"It does feel a little bit like this government’s a bit dismissive of the arts and is not willing to fund it, and yet it is such a massive employer in so many different areas that New Zealand is known for its creativity.

"Because it is an extremely tough time in the arts right now. So this is a way for me to hopefully be helpful to artists and also really get people thinking about what is the definition of an artist. I know we think of artists in terms of sculptors, painters, photographers. But it’s a much broader church than that."

Baker Geoffrey Heath is an example. She has included the maker of The People’s Bread in her list of 44. He hand-makes bread using grain from a farm in Canterbury, which he mills himself.

"It’s a whole process and the bread is insanely good. I’ve also got an architect; I’ve got a winemaker representing that art."

It is also a chance to highlight artists in regional areas of New Zealand and the care and attention all artists bring to their practice.

"I’m very keen to bring more of the regional artists to the wider Aotearoa attention. Because oftentimes it can be very capital, larger city-centric, the arts. And so this is a way of liberating the artists from a particular place."

The multi-disciplinary artist from Waiheke Island merges traditional painting with sculpture, performance and photography, particularly in her collaborative portraiture projects.

The idea for her latest project developed on her drive from Waiheke to Dunedin last year to take up a residency at the Dunedin School of Art, although it turned out slightly differently given time and space limitations.

"Driving is the perfect way to think through ideas. Sometimes I think the simplification of a concept strengthens it."

Her plan was to create portraits of artists but not in the normal sense. Holden’s canvas is the person she is painting. The end result is photographed and sometimes the whole process is done in front of an audience.

"I’m making a doppelganger of the artist, if you like. I mean, it’s helpful to think of it in those terms. The photograph is a record of the performance that’s happened in the studio."

In this latest project she also wanted to incorporate something from each individual’s artistic practice in the portrait — something she would create to indicate visually what they do.

Dunedin artist Michael Greaves is pictured with his paintbrushes, jeweller Octavia Cook with a copy of one of her broaches made from cardboard and painted by Holden and poet Isla Huia with her book created from wood and clay.

"Artists generally, and I include myself in this, are quite shy and are not so inclined to be photographed. So because we’re making this artwork together, it becomes this other portrait, this sort of painting, sculpture, rendering. So it’s kind of a mask."

Some are a bit more difficult to work out. While she often looked for the glamour or drama in what an artist did, with composer John Psathas a sweatshirt and headphones were the best representation, while with Mt Edward winemaker Duncan Forsyth they decided on re-creating the headwear of the woman on his wine’s promotional material, hence his elaborate headgear in the portrait.

The artists’ hair is shaped out of clay, and their clothes, often from second-hand shops, are painted with house paint.

"I go and find some options for them to wear, or we’ll talk about how they’d like to be represented within the constraints of how I can work."

Holden aims to get the paint fully wet and dripping - just about at the point of collapse - so she has to work quickly but carefully to get the result she is after.

"Once we start, there’s no going back. I try to prepare as far as possible, but you never really know what’s going to happen. It’s a one-shot deal. That’s what’s exciting and scary and fascinating about it."

As she wants the experience to be nice for her portrait subjects, she has the paint and clay ready to go when they get to the studio. It enables her to work quickly and calmly while enjoying conversation with her subjects, some of whom she knows and others she has only met through the project.

"The conversation is fantastic. You know, I really love it. We are in a little bubble while we’re making the work. We’re very connected. I need to talk to them about where I’m at. You know, I’m going to be painting here next."

She gesso’s their clothing as she would painting on a canvas, priming the clothes and making them stiffer, before bringing in the house paint. The face is the last thing she paints and it requires the sitter to be very still.

"It is a very intimate process. They do need to let me into their personal space in order to make the work. So it can be quite transformative for people, I think."

Holden then takes the photograph, often taking several in slightly different poses, but due to the nature of the work, the poses are mostly predetermined.

"Once I feel I’ve got it, then I’ll get them out of it. They are free to go and have a shower and wash it off. And then I’ll do the finishing work."

She does not paint right up to their eyes for obvious reasons so she needs to do some digital adjustments to fill those areas in.

Then when the works are exhibited she uses a museum audiovisual app to provide further information about the artists and their work.

"I’m using the portrait as a way in to reveal more about that particular artist’s practice."

Holden has been making portraits this way for about 10 years and enjoys that it gets her out of her studio on Waiheke. Her first portraits were made in Christchurch after the earthquakes. In those she asked artists what their favourite artwork or the most influential work on their practice was and then painted it on them. Back then she also painted their hair.

"I need to be in the community and, you know, in a place where I can meet a range of people, you know, and explore possibilities."

Over the years, her process has evolved from paint to using wigs to now using clay for the hair.

"I really enjoyed the results of that. It really does transform the entire figure into much more of a sculpture. And I do like the eye, the way the final image baffles the eye."

The practice developed from Holden’s experience at Elam art school in Auckland. At the time she attended it was going through massive change and painting and portraiture were not popular.

"So it presented a puzzle that I wanted to, crack, I guess."

Then she came across the work of British artist Boo Ritson featured on the cover of Art News. Ritson is a sculptor who makes "amazing pop images" using people as her canvas.

"It was from that era of pop art. And I immediately thought, ‘oh, my God, that’s so amazing. Why didn’t I think of that?"’

But it was not until 10 years later when she was working in Christchurch and came across the same magazine again that she looked into it further.

"I thought, ‘oh, I wonder what she did with that’. Because, of course, I could see immediately how rich it would be for painting. And she actually only did it for this very short period of time and had left it and gone back to her installation, sculptural installation work."

So Holden decided to see what she could do with the idea.

"Through a lot of experimentation, I figured out an approach that would work. You know, I started with resin test pots, which I don’t advise. It doesn’t come off very easily. I did it on myself first to work it out. I thought, ‘well, I can’t possibly ask anyone else to do this if I’m not willing to do it myself’."

Luckily, the artists she asked to take part were very forgiving as she worked through those processes.

"I’ve done all kinds of different work. It depends on who I’m talking to and how open they are, how comfortable they are."

In Queenstown jeweller Jessica Winchcombe’s case it was a full collaboration with the jeweller providing some objects, rings and top she made for another project and Holden bringing in references from 18-century classical painting.

"But then I brought it into the contemporary space by putting some sunglasses on her. And I think that’s a pretty successful portrait as well."

Holden has also done a self-portrait. Just before packing up to return to Waiheke from Dunedin, Holden wondered if she could do the whole process on herself.

"There was no-one else around, so I took the opportunity. It was an experiment just to see if I could and how unmanageable it would be. You know, I had to do it in the mirror and take the photograph. It was kind of chaotic. My hair was a bit long, so I snipped it and trimmed it up but forgot to do the other side so while I was painting, it was starting to slide. It was never supposed to see the light of day."

Then the New Zealand Portrait Gallery got in touch as it was doing an exhibition titled, "Me, Artists Paint Themselves", and asked if I had a self-portrait.

"So I was like I’d better finish it then."

TO SEE: 

The Artist, Julia Holden, Te Atamira, Manaaki Nui gallery space, December 6 to February 24.

Artist talk with Julia Holden, 10:30am, December 6, Manaaki Nui gallery space;

Panel discussion "The Power of Collaboration", Chelsea Winstanley ONZM, Dame Gaylene Preston, Dame Robin White and Julia Holden, December 6, 11am, Te Atamira.