Auckland artist Paul Cullen Designs For Dilana Rugs
Rugs on exhibition until November 4th 2006
Dilana Rugs opened premises in Auckland with art agent Jane Sanders in 2002. The resulting partnership has so far
resulted in three of the artists now designing for Dilana.
In 2003 John Lyall designed a fabulous pair of rugs based on Meccano, complete with woollen screws and Jan Nigro has
designed for both the limited edition range and the one off. She is currently awaiting the arrival of a rug commissioned
from her by a client.
Paul Cullen is the third. He has enjoyed the collaborative process of working with Dilana. His suite of rugs refers to
two recent bodies of work based on the diagrams and notions of gravity.
Hugh Bannerman, director of Dilana rugs had come to know Paul Cullen’s artwork through the sharing of the exhibition
space at 40 George Street.
Bannerman approached Cullen saying he thought his work would make good rugs. Cullen was delighted but also aware as he
says, “that with the translation of an image from one medium into another or, as in this case, when a drawing becomes a
rug there are going to be some significant changes. For example, materials, scale and the manner in which the image will
be viewed all need to be considered.” It is unusual for Dilana to work from an artist’s existing artworks, as they
prefer the artist to design for the medium by brining their colour and composition skills to the rug maker. It is a
collaborative process.
Bannerman had spent time though getting to know Cullen and his work, discussing art and rugs on his various trips to
Auckland. He was pleased with Cullen’s understanding of the requirements. As an example Cullen had noted “A drawing is
viewed in a particular way without any interruptions but a rug will be walked over or may have objects placed on it. I
didn't do any of these drawings with the idea that they could be transferred into the format and materials of a rug so
in selecting suitable images I had to give thought to all of these things but particularly how it would be viewed. I
chose images that could be viewed from any direction and still make sense.”
It was this combination of Bannerman’s 25 years of rug making experience and Cullen’s clear understanding that has made
a good match and resulted in three fantastic new rugs in the Dilana Collection.
Paul Cullen’s rugs will be on show at 40 George Street until November 5th. Examples of his artwork will also be on
exhibition.
ENDS