American artists at Whitireia campus

The Whitireia visual arts and design department is hosting two professors from Idaho’s Boise State University as part of its artists in residence programme.

Caroline Earley and Kate Walker arrived at the Whitireia campus in Porirua this month for a six-week residency, during which they will work with arts faculty staff and students to mentor and model artsbased practices.

Whitireia has provided the artists with a studio, wall space and a kiln to make finished works.

Earley is a professor of ceramics and Walker is a professor of interdisciplinary art.

Both have exhibited their work around the world, including in New Zealand.

‘‘We’ve often talked about the similar social and political ideas associated with our work, in terms of art as a way of engaging with controversial ideas,’’ Walker said.

‘‘ The works in this project all relate to LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer] conversations in a subtle way.’’

Earley said the collaborative aspect was also a big part of the conversation.

‘‘ You’re making incursions into someone else’s territory in a way. At first I thought, ‘You want to draw on my pieces?’. But once she did, I realised they were even better.’’

Walker said they would be holding an intensive workshop with students, at which they would discuss collaboration and the influence of location and place.

Earley noted that while their project had a general framework, it could take a sharp turn at any time, based on something they saw or experienced.

‘‘This is the power of being connected to the local,’’ she said.

The Americans’ residency finishes on July 25.