Poets collaborate with Painters at Pataka

Exhibition: Poets collaborate with Painters at Pataka

A kiss is a blessing, something we share with our loved ones, sometimes taken for granted, other times relished. We may be different combinations of lover, mother, sister, daughter, or granddaughter but we are all part of a family. Especially when they nag us, leave their wet towels on the bed or wake us in the night. We are kissed.

We are a collective of artists and writers collaborating to produce an exhibition of original artworks interpreting and incorporating poetry. The paintings have been created as not just illustrations of the poems. Instead the poetry has become an integral part of the paintings, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, exploring domesticity and community.

About the writers

Hinemoana Baker is a graduate of the Masters in Creative Writing at the IIML, Victoria University, Wellington. Her first book, 'matuhi | needle', was launched in October 2004. She is also a singer-songwriter - her debut album, 'puawai', was released at the same time as her book. She has written for stage and film, short stories and children's fiction as well as poetry.

Helen Heath has studied undergraduate writing at the IIML and Whitireia Community Polytechnic. Her interest in the domestic seems inevitable as she is the mother of two preschool children. She is the administrator for the New Zealand Poetry Society and the founder of Juicy Press.

About the painters

Kirsty Morison has a versatile background in design and after completing Textile Design at Wellington Polytechnic spent the first five years of her professional career designing interior furnishing fabrics, where she began to incorporate her love of New Zealand landscape and culture into her work. Currently Kirsty runs a small design business - Splice Design, which she operates out of Titahi Bay. During 2004 Kirsty has exhibited and sold work at Pataka – Porirua, Malo, Framework Gallery, WOW and Pots and Prints Nelson.

Daisy Wood trained in craft design at Whitireia Community Polytechnic in the early 90’s, majoring in jewellery but eventually settling on painting as her medium of choice. Daisy’s work has always focused on the human condition. Her recent focus has been small objects painted on a large scale as metaphors for states of the psyche. She has had a number of café shows and was a part of a group exhibition at One Eye gallery in 2001.

Kissed is open to the public from 16 April – 8 May 2005.

- PATAKA - The cultural heart of Porirua City. A museum and art gallery that is dedicated to celebrating the region's heritage and showcasing the very best in contemporary Maori, Pacific Island and New Zealand art.

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