Contributors

Jessica Gernat

The photographer spent a day with two artists who have built their home on family land in Mt Roskill, Auckland (p. 110).

This is your first commission for HOME – tell us a little about yourself. I was born in Canada and raised a Kiwi – I’m a Caniwi. My journey has incorporated studies in architecture and photography and this career brings the two passions together. I find the end-to-end shoot process very special, shaped by spirited conversations with amazing designers and creators. What did you enjoy about photographing the home of two

artists? Kirstin and Dan were so welcoming, spending time in their spaces filled with paintings and sculptures created by them and their friends was incredibly inspiring. Shooting over the course of a day gifted me more time with their works; noticing the finer details was a treat. I enjoyed experiencing a space designed for creatives that also functions beautifully as a family home. What other projects are you working on at the moment? I’m in the process of editing an exciting angular home, as well as processing images from a trip to USA and Canada – there are some images that I would like to revisit and build stories from. A personal project and gallery show are also brewing.

What absorbs your time outside of work? The great outdoors. When I can make space I am off exploring our beautiful country or abroad. When it comes to freshening up perspective, nothing beats some fresh air and a long walk somewhere unfamiliar.

Anthony Byrt

The arts writer and critic travelled to Venice to cover Post hoc, Dane Mitchell’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale (p. 52).

You write about some chunky issues – art, politics, city planning – do you find you can get emotionally caught up? I almost always choose to write about issues, people or events that I care about – so there’s a degree of emotional involvement. I’m interested in what they tell us about where we’re headed, as a community and a society. But I’ve had good editors over the years who’ve helped me to understand that my primary responsibility is to my readers, that my job is to keep a critical distance so I can still see the truths, even when those truths might be painful or emotionally challenging. What does your ideal world look like and what would be your

ideal home? I think about this ‘ideal world’ question all the time, mainly because the world is such a mess right now. I’m a parent, and I’m really troubled by what we’ve done, and are doing, both to the planet and democratic society. But I also try to be optimistic, otherwise I’d just curl into a ball and not do anything. One of the ways we’ve started to deal with these questions as a family is with the piece of land we’ve bought north of Auckland – about four acres, with really fantastic soil. We’re doing a lot of planting, both of fruit trees and natives, and we’re planning to build something small to stay in up there – only about 50 square metres. Our jobs keep us tied to the city at the moment, but long-term, I feel like our hearts and our futures are up there.