Kia ora

In August I'll be installing an exhibition in Wellington community Gallery, Thistle Hall on Cuba Street.

'The Thistle Hall AMuseum & Gift shop' 

A broad mix of genres, works new and old that loosely describe a human journey presented as a 'museum' of curated 'artifacts'.
I find ideas of equality, ideas of fairness in judgement, the need for reciprocity of consent traverse the human world through every living being.
This conscious, feeling, planet, world, earth, home, complex organism is why and how we are here.
My show is an attempt to render some instructions of caretakership for this world into visual art.
Environment is everything, we are not separate.
There are threads, patterns throughout describing how we are guided by our surroundings as well as descriptions and depictions of anomalies when we fail to heed these signals. 

Bespoke cabinets containing sculpture, wall hung art, free-standing work and more are all curated to offer a mixture of vibrant, humorous, macabre and elegant visual statements unlike anything you will have ever seen.

In addition, the Gift-shop will have handmade one-off clothing in fabrics of my designs and some in re-purposed fabrics (slow fashion). There will be tote-bags, aprons, shirts, and more

The Thistle Hall AMuseum & Gift-shop      18 August - 24 August 2025     293 Cuba Street, Wellington

Daily 9am - 6pm  

The Observation Deck                                                                                      (future exhibition)              
The Observation Deck - An artistic investigation of environmental signals that we can use to ‘vaccinate’ ourselves.
This collection speaks to mimicry, interconnectedness, commonality, resource management, with an eye on the useful past, desirable present and our possible future.
There is abundant messaging in nature. There are patterns to employ for protection, structural clues, cycles to follow, warning signals, there is even instruction on how to build a resilient community. Being aware of mutual benefit is the greatest lesson that can ever be learned and we learn this  through observation.
​In responding to nature’s cues in naturally reciprocal ways we safeguard life itself.
Upon arrival into the world we are given a vaccine. Our first meal of colostrum suckled to prepare us for life ahead is a mother’s nurture.
Mother-nature, one of many names we call our environment can also provide for us in this protective way. Eating food appropriate to our individual form, our constitutional type, our size etc, we guide our state of wellbeing. When we feed the body ‘correctly’ our mental abilities are assisted, vice versa, when we feed our mind well, our body benefits. In numerous ancient, traditional and current medical practices food is deemed as medicine.
Mother Nature’s provision used in a customised manner fortifies us for time ahead.
Sometimes vaccine, sometimes food yet always medicine, if observation is applied in a tailored manner. The antithesis of course is ‘sometimes poison’.
Art as vaccine occurs when we experience art and become better prepared for the future. When we encounter art we might question the message, the intention, the form, colour, composition, whether we in fact ‘like it’. Sometimes we question the validity of what the artist is saying, other times we even think we’ve been poisoned yet in reality - through art - we’re always informed by our observations. These inoculations, these personal challenges and attempts to interpret, train the mind and with this flexing we become healthier.
Human expression is a tool that nourishes people culturally with food for thought derived from observation.
It’s in this way we can use art as a mechanism to navigate life and as a vaccine works, we become more attuned to our survival in the world (or 'wild'). We can guide each other with shared interpretation, we can teach and heal by seeing and imitating environment; implementing observations we prepare ourselves and extended-selves-family-community-society to mindfully enjoy the present to engage a fulfilling future.
                                                                                                                                           
JH  ©2024

      As part of a team travelling to Cape Town for the ILGA World 2024 conference in November, I'm offering works for sale with a generous discount. 
     Raising funds to get there is important because if there’s anything that we can do to protect, educate, empower, reduce suffering, even entertain rainbow people and whanau, we are obliged to do it!
     Discrimination of anyone affects everyone and doesn't belong in a just society.
     As well as be maintained, the rights of all people must continually be fought for. 
​     Use the Contact page to reach me. I'd love your support in this. 

Started some time ago and put away to move studios. Four years later...  I opened the right folder and rediscovered this painting. Gold leaf, ink and acrylic wash on paper with paua. The working title was 'The Sun as Bag Lady'. I still like the title. It's a representation of life's gifts being given by the sun, seeds, warmth, energy... 

Details to come

The Age of Watching. 

"Andy Warhol looks a scream. Hang him on my wall." DB

Aotearoa NZ had some simple restrictions during the Covid19 pandemic.
In this short period a lot of changes appeared around us; increased birdlife in the CBD, silence in the absence of traffic, some whales and even a Sunfish took advantage of a quiet harbour.
People re-connected with one another, used less, needed less, wasted less, pollution was low. 

We can slow ourselves, re-focus and enjoy a more realistic pace.
Clearly we don't need the hurried and frantic, grasping kind of life to which we are habituated and even encouraged to lead. 

Condolences to those that lost loved ones and to those that have suffered as a result of Covid19 virus.