Artist Hannah Kidd hates being the centre of attention but is more than happy for her work to take centre stage. She tells Rebecca Fox about her latest exhibition.
Hannah Kidd's fantastical metal sculptures have taken on a new dimension - they now light up.
The Otago Polytechnic's Dunedin School of Art graduate (2001) has introduced light bulbs to her mild steel rod and corrugated iron sculptures for the first time.
The bulbs light up, highlighting the neck of a swan, the curve of a baby zebra's back or the comfort of a chair in her latest exhibition, opening in Queenstown this week.
"They have a dual purpose, they draw attention to the art work and also overplay the importance of the art work,'' she said while putting the final touches to her last piece for the exhibition in her Methven studio.
"Now one anxiety [finishing the works in time] flicks over to the next one - how many will sell. That is the reality of a commercial artist.''
She named the exhibition "Fantastic Land'' as it is a "double take on New Zealand life''.
"We're living in this wonderful country but sometimes it is not our reality. It is also about the fantasy of where you'd like to be compared to the reality.''
To complete the show, she has created a "shabby old Las Vegas''-style metal sign lit by a string of lightbulbs which "ironically, has to be well lit'' to read.
"I like the fact that it's shot itself in the foot.''
Adding lights to the sculptures was something she had wanted to do for a while.
"I really enjoy the electrical process - although an electrician comes in and wires things up for me.''
She loved the finished product for its "ostentation''.
"It grabs attention; hopefully it'll overshadow other work.''
The exhibition also included a wolf, a wall-hung great white shark and a litter of six Labrador puppies.
"I always wanted to make a shark so I built one for this show - it's about the need to fantasize about great things happening, like winning Lotto, not about getting attacked by a shark.''
Her human piece, Poor Collum, featuring a man in a chair, was her favourite piece of the exhibition. "He's cool.''
The puppies were a "shameless'' attempt to pull on people's heartstrings, she said.
Many of her commissions were for creations of dogs as people were passionate about their animals.
The works took anywhere from a week to a couple of months to complete. She had help from a full-time employee, because the works could be labour intensive.
She begins by building a skeleton out of mild steel rod and then cladding it in corrugated iron which is welded into place.
While the work did require the pair to stand at a work bench for many hours, they had designed things to make it easier on them and reduce the need to call on the "blokes'' for help.
"We're both mid-size females so we tend to figure out what makes things as easy as possible for ourselves.''
While working, she listened to audio books, trying to pick topics to increase her vocabulary and help with the public speaking she needed to do.
"I try and make it compatible with what I'm working on. Like a thriller for the shark.''
She seldom named the figures, but her workmate often did.
"Whilst you are making the framework what you are trying to get across is the personality of the piece.''
The need to construct things had been with Kidd for as long as she could remember.
"It's been like that since I was little. It's always been construction rather than carving or casting or installation.''
When she was at art school in Dunedin she discovered welding. Her creativity took over from there.
"I like the work. Of getting to see something through to completion.''
Although she admitted not every idea she had was actually realised, it was good when they were.
When not working on exhibitions, Kidd did commissioned work. After this exhibition was over she would get stuck in to filling orders.
'I've got a bit of a backlog.''
"When I'm making a show I try and concentrate completely on the show.''
Getting the works out of the workshop and into an exhibition space was quite rewarding, she said.
"Seeing them on the clean floors and white walls makes a difference.''
Since graduating in 2001 her work had been exhibited around the world including I'm Sure I've Seen that Before, Vienna, Austria (2002), Sculpture by the Sea and in Australia and Denmark.
In 2010 she won the Montalto Sculpture Award in Australia and the People's Choice Award at New Zealand Sculpture OnShore, plus in 2012 she was a finalist in the Montalto Sculpture Award, Australia, and the New Zealand Wallace Art Awards.
To see
Hannah Kidd ‘‘Fantastic Land'', Milford Galleries Queenstown, July 23-August 17
