Artists in residence
Growing up in the 1970s, I have strong memories of being dragged around the cosmetic departments of major stores with my mum.
To me, it looked like a magic spaceship with all the lights and the mirrors, the reflections and the colour palette. I’m not necessarily interested in the idea of “adorning the skin” but rather the sensorial, aesthetic, and to some extent nostalgic experiences elicited by cosmetic products.”
KAZU NAKAGAWA
Sculptor, painter, photographer based on Waiheke Island; exhibiting with Trish Clark Gallery
What brought you to this place? In 2003 I came across this property and it was obvious to me that I could work well here. It has a certain energy flow — throughout the land and the building; it was a good environment for my work and everyday living and bringing up children, who left home a couple of years ago. I am still here although I don’t think that I’m settling down.
I’ve lived on this island more than half of my life, so it must mean nearly everything [in terms of] what I have done in my work and life. Even when I work only on ideas and concepts, I need to connect with this place physically.
Every day around sunset, I go for a run about 6km around where I live, making sure that I do exist (not an idea), breathing air, seeing ocean and trees and people.
I think being in New Zealand gave me a freedom to explore different mediums, try new things.
Are there other locations that influence your work?
Tokyo, the city where I grew up, must be one of the most influential places to me, as much as Waiheke has been. My Buddhist and Shinto family lived there for a number of generations and it was my playground and learning field through my childhood and youth. Anything there must have forged my blank mind but I can’t identify what that was or what it did to me and my works.
Where is the strangest place you’ve ever worked from?
I worked at the Waiheke library on a public art project from 2009 to 2014. Generally I work alone, but not this time. I worked with a large project team: council people, architects, contactors, builders, earth-movers.
At the final stage of the project, when I was carving the timber facade alone on the scaffolding, through a whole winter, many local passers by cheered me from the street as I was constantly there, even when it rained.