On Friday 18th June, Ōtautahi’s ‘master of the dark arts’ Dark Ballad will present a range of new works, including prints and one-of-a-kind hand-printed tees, in an exhibition at Flying Nun Records’ new store at 143 Tuam Street. Alongside the visual works by Dark Ballad, DJ Crash Gothic will also spin a musical set – making this a perfect way to warm up in the midst of a Christchurch winter! Dark Ballad has been building his reputation as a visual force, with his striking print work, from posters in the streets to gallery pieces and record covers, recognisable for their strong graphic qualities and evocative imagery. This presentation of new work, including a range of collaborations with local creatives, is sure to be fire!
I might be a bit biased (Disclaimer: I was the author of the Ghosts on Every Corner book and have been involved in the project since it’s initial genesis), but it is hard to go past Ghosts on Every Corner as one of the most impactful art projects to emerge from Ōtautahi in 2025. Numbers generally don’t lie – tentative counts suggests more than 10,000 people visited the Pūmanawa Gallery space at the Arts Centre in the five week run that Ghostcat’s scratch-built recreations were on display, a huge figure for an independent project. Additionally, the book documenting and expanding the project, featuring striking photography by the super talented Dave Richards, has proven popular, selling more than 700 copies on pre-order before being placed on the bookshelves of retail outlets. It would be fair to say that Ghosts on Every Corner struck a chord.
Wizards Arcade (photo: Dave Richards)
What made this project so impactful? The foundations are, of course, found in Ghostcat’s incredible ability to craft his work as intricately detailed, seemingly lived-in constructions, weathered and layered in a way that invites deep consideration and a sense of familiar experience. Despite their small size, they feel like places we can inhabit, they feel real and are tangible and tactile, a quality that is increasingly important in a world dominated by the potential of digital and AI-created imagery. To witness people scanning these works of art, leaning in, invited to remember their connection to these places, was to see the way people associated with the these works of art and their purpose.
The second layer was obviously the role of nostalgia, and encouraging people to consider the role these places, tattoo parlours, record stores, video game arcades, cafes, shaped our lives, collectively and individually. People have remarked about the way Ghosts on Every Corner allowed them to reminisce, but also to reconcile their connection to place, to properly farewell these places after losing many in a very abrupt manner (it is worth pointing out that not all of these places were destroyed in the earthquakes – some had already evolved into new forms by 2010/2011, affected by forces of commerce and social trends). Countless visitors recounted their personal attachments to place, both those in the exhibition and locations beyond the show’s scope. This reflected the project’s intention to be both highly specific and yet, universally evocative. While Ghosts on Every Corner spotlit local memories, it also can be considered as a lens to reflect on the corner stores, the food joints, the video stores, that everyone knew growing up – not just in Ōtautahi, but in any town or city across Aotearoa and the world. Ghosts on Every Corner acknowledges that places shape us and give us identity and community. Change does not have to be expedited by a natural disaster, change is inevitable, sometimes gradual, sometimes internal, but always inevitable.
Echo Records (Photo: Dave Richards)
This sense of connection is another key layer to Ghosts on Every Corner. The project was built upon conversation, upon a recognition of community. Whether it was friends, family, workplaces, sub-cultures, or disparate crowds, the stories of Ghosts on Every Corner revel in the coming together of people. Reflecting this, the project was shaped by input from a wide range of people – from suggestions of places for Ghostcat to build, to the stories and recollections gathered for the book’s chapters. Ghosts on Every Corner was created by a larger community. People have seen themselves as part of the creation, they have felt connected to the outcomes. This layered quality, this ability to connect with people is where Ghosts on Every Corner gains its potency. A touching, celebratory project, it has made people smile, cry, dream and talk. That seems like a truly valuable impact.
The Ghosts on Every Corner book is now available in selected book stores.
Centuri Chan is a multi-faceted creative – one of the forces (excuse the pun, it will make sense later…) behind the Humans of Christchurch Ōtautahi project, he is a photographer, content creator, Lego block master, and, importantly, a ‘Star Wars guy’. In his upcoming project Dark Countdown, he will fuse his fixation on a galaxy far, far away with a visual commentary on the waste created by mass commercial marketing and short-term collectible fads. The result will be an interactive installation that is an impressive patch work image, and a deeper commentary on contemporary consumerism and capitalism. We took the chance to let Centuri fill us in on this intriguing project, giving us an insight into the concept and execution…
“In 2016 a major supermarket chain released a set of Star Wars collectibles as part of a gimmicky advertising campaign. A grocery spend of $20 or more would be awarded with a single blind-bagged ‘Cosmic Shell’ featuring a character from the Star Wars films. Collectors were encouraged to collect and trade for the complete set of 36 to fill an exclusive collectors album.
I conceived this Dark Countdown artwork around 2020 after finding hundreds of cosmic shells at op-shops, flea markets and online marketplaces after the promotion ended. I have always been a collector, and I have been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a youngster. My past-self would have spent countless hours and grocery trips completing the set.
Instead, it was after the hype died down that I started. I spent several years collecting bulk lots, bags of spares, and even unopened boxes of these small plastic discs.” Chan will now utilise this vast collection to create a 5-metre wide mosaic image at the St Asaph Street gallery space The Art Hole. In collecting the required amount of discs to create the massive artwork, Chan is able to highlight the problematic nature of such gimmicks, which intentionally cause a furore of excitement like a brief sugar rush, before most of the collectible trinkets are discarded and forgotten. It is easy to imagine which side of the galactic unrest the producers might fall on (insert Imperial March here)…
The Dark Countdown installation is almost five years in the making. The final work will be a giant photo-mosaic made from thousands of these discarded Cosmic Shells. The exhibition comprises two parts, the interactive installation of week one, where the public is invited to help create the giant mosaic in situ at the Art Hole gallery space from Tuesday 20th May (opening 5:30pm to 7pm) until Saturday 24th May. The second stage will see the completed artwork on display for a week, open to the public from Tuesday 27th May (the unveiling at 5:30pm – 7:00pm) to Saturday 31st May.
Screenshot
Be part of Dark Countdown by helping install the giant mosaic work and visiting the exhibition:
Interactive Installation: Opening – Tuesday 20th May, 5.30pm – 7:00pm Gallery Open Hours: Tuesday 20th May – Saturday 24th May, 9:00am – 4:00pm
Exhibition: Opening (Artwork Unveiling) – Tuesday 27th May, 5.30pm – 7:00pm Gallery Open Hours: Tuesday 27th May – Saturday 31st May, 9:00am – 4:00pm
Follow Dark Countdown on Facebook for updates and follow Centuri Creative on Instagram…
The Flare Ōtautahi Street Art Festival kicks off on Thursday, 27th February – and it is bringing 10 days of epic street art goodness! With a massive offering of things to do and see, let’s get everything you need to know in one place!
Headline Artists:
Jacob Yikes – Distinction Hotel – Spark Lane side, just off Cathedral Square
Berst – Spark Lane – opposite Jacob Yikes
Jessie Rawcliffe – 566 Colombo Street (on the exterior of Samurai Bowl)
Haser – Ara Campus, Madras Street
Fluro – 282 Cashel Street (Barbadoes Street end)
YSEK7 – 65 Worcester Street (opposite the eastern exterior of the Christchurch Art Gallery)
Nick Lowry – 173 Gloucester Street (Manchester Street end)
Additional Artworks:
Drez (Australia) – 267 St Asaph Street (opposite the Boxed Quarter)
Ling (Australia) – Exterior of Child Sister Cafe, Manchester Street
FSA x DTR x BRS Crew Wall – 490 Colombo Street, Sydenham
Rinley’s Wall – 47 Wordsworth Street, Sydenham
Ikarus x Dcypher – Spark Lane, Distinction Hotel
Additional Activations and Events:
FSA x Flare Pop-Up Exhibition – 10am – 5pm, 1-9 March, 181 High Street
Tattoo Pop-Up with Chez – 1-2 March, 181 High Street – DM @mkeltattooart for bookings
Watch This Space Street Art Tours – 11am & 2pm, 1, 2, 6, 8 & 9 March, departing from The Drifter – book via website/Humanitix
Flare x Watch This Space x Dulux x Duckewe Mural Jam/Mākete/Skate Day – 10am – 4pm, 8 March, Te Pae Green
Watch This Space Artist Panel Talk – 6:30pm, 7 March, Dux Central – tickets via Humanitix
Blackbook Sessions – see Flare website for details
Stencil Workshop – 6pm, 6 March, The Rambler – tickets via Humanitix
Oops, we did it again – you get another two-for-one this time as our busy schedule kept us a little behind the eight-ball when it comes to our favourite things! It might be a little concerning, what with a bumper summer incoming and a heap of cool projects on the horizon – but fear not, we make a promise to be very, very good. We hope. But enough with the apologies, let us celebrate what has been a prolific period with some highlights! Here are the things we loved over the last couple of months…
Kophie aka Meep – Trials @ Fibre Gallery, October 4 – November 8
There is a defiant attitude to Meep’s debut solo show Trials, a sense that this is on her terms. Whether it is the use of a knife and a boxing glove as unconventional canvasses, or the middle finger to the world of I’m Sick of Hearing You Talk (above), the collection of detailed works are both aloof and sick of the bullshit. We love it.
Hambone Slaps
To echo 2009 Kanye: “I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish, but Hambone has the best sticker of all time.” Change my mind, you won’t.
Yikes Refreshes Things…
Jacob Yikes has been updating a few works across the city – including his work outside Little High and the Tuam Street carpark, but our favourite is this haunting piece on Colombo Street, nestled next to Numskull’s I Always Knew You Would Come Back – it is both alluring and grotesque – the perfect combination! It also works perfectly with the existing IRONS piece above, showing Yikes’ deft touch with the spaces in which he works…
A Close Encounter in Los Angeles
If you know me, you know Portuguese artist Vhils is one of my favourite artists, his excavated works perfectly utilising the urban environments they occupy. So you can imagine my joy at stumbling across this work in Venice Beach while in Los Angeles recently. The incredible detail and textural quality drew me in and left me starstruck. For more Los Angeles finds, keep an eye out for our Postcard from Los Angeles soon!
Ed Ruscha @ The Broad in Los Angeles
Staying on the West Coast, it was also a treat to visit LA’s famous Broad Museum and see a massive retrospective of American painter Ed Ruscha, another long time favourite – from his bold text-based works to his flat Americana landscapes, there was everything to love!
Monti Masiu @ The Arts Centre
Monti Masiu has been creating some truly vibrant and striking works in the last year, drawing on his Tongan heritage but giving them a new power through their scale and public nature. We absolutely love his new work outside The Arts Centre on Worcester Boulevard, the warm tones, sweeping lines and bold forms are stunningly simple, impactful and alluring.
Something Fresh is Almost Here…
Kophie Su’a-Hulsbosch’s latest work is not quite complete at the time of writing (although we already know it is a truly awesome additional to the urban landscape) – but we had to include the squiggle grid for her sketch – if not for the brilliant image it creates and the hilarious messages included, but also because of the funny responses it drew – people unsure of what they were looking at, aghast at the dense spray painted words, and the attempts to decipher the next step…
OD X The Last Stylebender
Between Ōtautahi and Los Angeles, not geographically, just sequentially, we got the chance to check out Owen Dippie’s incredible mural of UFC star Israel Adesanya in down town Tāmaki Makaurau. While in an unassuming location, the work is brilliant and showstopping – with incredible detail and a striking sense of personality.
Lucha! Lucha! Lucha!
Lastly, I have to mention the experience of live CMLL Lucha Libra in Mexico City! The frenetic energy and raucous crowd made for an amazing night of flippy-flips, mascaras and drama! As a ‘mark’ since childhood, to see this live was an awesome experience. Five stars!
So, with apologies, that was our latest And That Was… – a smattering of local treats with some international sights as well! Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Kophie a.k.a Meep One is such a prominent part of the Ōtautahi and wider Aotearoa scene that it is hard to believe she has not staged a solo exhibition of work – until now! Trials is the artist’s first foray into a solo gallery exhibition, fittingly staged during the 2024 Christchurch Hip Hop and hosted by Fibre Gallery, key connections for Meep, whose work is rooted in the influence of graffiti and hip hop culture and her proud bi-cultural Dutch and Samoan heritage. While gaining widespread attention for her public mural work, Meep is well-versed in studio work, from painting to design and even fashion and jewellery. Trials will focus on her imaginative creative output without the restrictions of public commission conditions. A fiercely principled individual, Meep’s art is always imbued with meanings and discourses drawn from her experiences and observations, even when it appears more surreal than topical. We sat down with Kophie to chat about Trials, the process of bringing it all together, hip hop culture, subversive influences, and a number of other topics…
Your upcoming exhibition, Trials, will be staged at Fibre Gallery in October – I was surprised that this will be your first solo exhibition, for someone with your body of work and profile, it’s been a long time coming…
Yeah, I’ve always wanted to do it, I just haven’t really had the guts! It’s been terrifying because I really don’t like being the centre of attention or anything like that. But art is an important part of my life, and it has been ever since I was born really, so I’m happy to finally do it. I’ve wanted to do a show with a big research project behind it for ages, but it’s just too much and it’s hard to get funding for that scale, so for this show I’m focussed on painting stuff that I want to paint in the moment, experimenting and just showing it really…
There is so much work that goes into organising a show, the logistics of funding it and organising a venue, the promotion and all those things, but an exhibition also needs to have something to say, and it takes time to develop a body of work out of formative ideas. The fact that this has taken a while to manifest, does that mean you feel more confident in terms of what you’re saying?
Yeah, and I feel like once I get my first show out of the way, then I won’t feel so stressed about doing it again. In the past I have put too much pressure on myself to make it perfect, but I have just let that go and just made art.
Trials is taking place as part of the 2024 Christchurch Hip Hop Summit. The influence of hip hop has always been a strong element of your work, how much did street culture, graffiti and hip hop inspire this exhibition?
One of my first introductions to graffiti was seeing the wall at Waltham Park from the first Hip Hop Summit in Christchurch, and the guys from the Summit team have always been supportive of me. I was supposed to do one for last year’s Summit, but I wasn’t able to secure funding, so they’re kind of making me do it this year! Hip hop and graffiti are a massive part of my inspiration, and so is street culture in general, like skateboarding. I wasn’t good at skateboarding, but I was around the culture. Growing up in Wanaka, it’s very outdoorsy, so things like snowboarding were also an influence. Then we moved to Christchurch and seeing all the graffiti when I was a teenager was a big part of my growing up. Once I was transfixed with graffiti and art, apart from non-stop drawing, I would always either bunk or walk after school to the South Library and pour over all the graffiti, art and skateboarding books they had there at the time. When I was at school, I would just sit in class and basically draw on myself all day. A lot of the stuff in Trials is inspired by that feeling I had when I was younger and seeing graffiti for the first time and how the world was back then without social media. I think there is a nostalgia for that time, most days I just want to throw it all out the window and just play in the street like I did when I was a kid. It just seems like the world now is completely different…
I assume the show’s title refers to the trials and tribulations that you’ve been through, but it also suggests the concept of criminality that is associated with graffiti, the challenge of transitioning graffiti into a career in the arts, and perhaps the trials of modern-day life, especially the impact of technology and social media. Was the title intentionally so wide-reaching in its suggestions?
Yeah definitely, when I was trying to think of a name, I wanted something that had multiple meanings. The name evokes the trials I have been through to get to where I am now. I guess I had a hard upbringing, but despite dropping out of school, I was able to get an education and then to do what I do now, I’m very grateful of how far I’ve come and how I’ve gotten through all that. Trials also reflects the fact that I wanted to do a lot of experimentation in this body of work. I’ve had so many ideas for so long and I just haven’t had time or the ability to take time from work and focus on painting. It takes a lot of time and money, which is proving to be difficult even right now. I start at 9am and then finish at 9pm and I’m still working on the same painting…
Obviously, there are a lot of very personal aspects embedded in the show, but something I admire in your work is that when you are painting real people, including your self-portraits, you imbue your subjects with a symbolic quality, a feeling of being an archetype rather than an explicitly specific person…
I like to create the whole character. I don’t like doing realism, it’s not something that I really enjoy. It’s just a skill rather than being able to use creativity and imagination. So, for this show there is a lot more of my cartoony stuff, abstracted and surrealist stuff, subversive stuff. There are a lot of hidden messages. I find straight ahead realism quite boring because you are just painting what’s there. I want to create characters from scratch and give them back stories that reflect how I was feeling in that moment or something that inspired me. I doodle all the time, so I’ve taken a lot of stuff that I have drawn and remember how I was feeling and then I try to turn them into better works…
What does the process look like? How do you go about taking an initial drawing that captures an idea and turning it into a more polished painting?
Working on an iPad makes it a lot easier because I just take a photo of a random sketch and refine it. It’s easier to play with colours and stuff before I paint it. But other times, I just start drawing on a piece of wood or canvas and then I just paint it. So, some of them have a refined sketch, some of them don’t. I’m mostly playing with oil and acrylics on ply, which is my favourite surface. I’m largely using recycled ply that I’ve cut into shapes, it’s reminiscent of some of my paste-ups in the past, big cut out figures, but they’re on ply and nicely painted. There are probably only going to be two real portraits, one inspired by me, because it’s hard to get a reference photo of someone else and I don’t want to use AI, and one of Callum [Kophie’s partner, who is currently finishing a music production degree in Australia] because I miss him! But in both cases, they’re not just portraits, they’re abstracted and stylised, with stories behind them.
You mentioned the presence of subversive elements in your work. How important is working in the studio for the expression of subversion when you are increasingly creating commissioned public works where creative freedom is lessened? Does that become part of that nostalgic element that you’re looking for as well?
Yeah, one hundred per cent. I feel like a lot of my big murals are be watered down a lot because of the client relationship, so this show does take me back to my roots. I’ve always been outspoken and political. I care about issues, so that’s always been a central part of my work. In my first year of study, we had to draw a portrait of a friend. He told me he worked in the meat works, so I drew him like Hannibal Lecter as a joke, and I made this big melting-globe-world-monster thing, and a fish made of scrap materials symbolizing a radioactive fish after the Fukushima disaster, which had just occurred. I guess it comes from the influence of satire, political art, like Obey, and the likes of Adbusters. Skate graphics as well, they have a history of being subversive and they definitely influenced me. That stuff’s always been cool to me. I played a lot of video games growing up and they always had funny subversive stuff, like in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, there was a Sasquatch character…
I like that with games now, where you see custom builds and skins, so you’ll have these relatively normal worlds, and then, all of a sudden, they’re populated by giant bananas. The more ridiculous something is, the more it reveals the underlying absurdity of what we perceive as normal…
I like the balance of silly but serious at the same time, it makes you think. All my works are very topical in one way or another, some are just more obvious than others. I feel like a big thing in my work is the impending doom of climate change and how we are all heading towards a fiery death, but no one seems to care. It’s just like head in the sand stuff…
It’s that whole This Is Fine meme, the dog sitting in a flaming room…
That’s exactly the aesthetic, that whole ‘I’m fine’ thing…
We have discussed some of the themes and subject, but is this body of work a progression in terms of visual style?
I feel like it’s me being true to my original style. If you look at my old workbooks, I drew the same sort of stuff but just way worse, so it is an evolution of that. I haven’t really been able to paint big versions of my sketches. I do a little bit in my graffiti when I have enough paint, but not as much as I would like.
It feels like a balancing act of how to express yourself in different spaces…
I guess it comes back to the duality of doing illegal stuff while also trying to go to meetings and be professional. I always feel so fake in a way. But I look at businesspeople who are doing horrendous shit and they don’t bat an eyelid. I’m a genuine person that sticks to their guns, so I just feel really weird about living a double life. I don’t know how to act half the time…
How do you think the idea of a more genuine expression relates to the broader context of hip hop? At its heart, hip hop is very much a DIY culture, but it also has been through so many incarnations; you had the earlier stages of hip hop, street parties and making something from little or nothing, then you had the ‘get cash’ and bling kind of attitude of the nineties onwards, that hustle ethos, and now hip hop has evolved into something different again as it is more commercial today. What hip hop ethos do you identify with most strongly?
I guess hip hop has become very commercialised nowadays and I never want to be a commercial sort of artist. I just want to be someone who makes art about things that are happening in the present moment. I like a lot of underground music.With the Full Steam Ahead crew, we wanted to try and incorporate all the hip hop elements. Even though we mainly do graffiti and rap at the moment, we do have B-Boys in the crew. I love the origins of hip hop. Street wear, clothing and fashion is also a big part of my inspiration. When I was a kid, a lot of the time I would just draw the different outfits that I dreamed of having because I had to wear second hand clothes. It wasn’t cool to wear second hand clothes then! I would draw all sorts of cool outfits. I’d draw girls and then cut them out and make them different outfits like paper dolls. I thought I was going to be a fashion designer! Drawing my characters with cool clothes and accessories is a central part of my art, I guess. The t-shirt as an important platform for messages is another idea I really like. When I was painting recently, I was thinking about all the clothes I had when I was a teenager and stuff, I had this cool t-shirt that said like ‘Big Brother is Watching’ from the 2000s, why did I get rid of it! I want to paint it now, just thinking about that!
That captures the DIY element of hip hop for me, it was created by young people who didn’t have access to things so they made use of what they could, whether it was street corners or subway trains…
That’s definitely a central part of my work and my whole life really. I’ve always made stuff that I didn’t have. I’d make clothes for my dolls from scratch or like second hand fabrics. I just did it out of necessity really. Even now, like I built a fence at home when we needed one. I make do with what I have, I upcycle things, I learn to make and fix what I can. I have always been a DIY type. I’d cut out posters from free magazines when I was a kid, take the posters and cut them up and collage them and poster my room with them. I don’t know, it’s always been like that. I made the hat I’m wearing because I was playing the video game Harry Potter Legacy, and I liked the hat one of the characters was wearing. I was like, I need it, so I made it. My art has always been from second hand stuff or acquired items. Right now, I’m using recycled ply because I had it. It comes down to my ethos of not buying new things for the good of sustainability. Everything nowadays is so crappily made anyway.
The clothing your subjects wear is important, whether a t-shirt with a message or your works that explore Pasifika identity and traditional clothing, these are a reflection of your background and the way fashion has always been so important to hip hop, punk, any kind of street culture…
Yeah, I made the weirdest outfits when I was a teenager. I had a big emo phase and a Boy George phase, like an eighties phase, a gangster phase, haha. I think fashion plays a big part in personal expression, so it is important in my artwork. Especially drawing things that I couldn’t get or creating my own fashion designs…
I want to see some photos of Boy George era Kophie! You mentioned your crew Full Steam Ahead, but of course you are now also a member of TMD [The Most Dedicated]. How big an impact has that had on your work, knowing you are part of a globally celebrated creative collective? Does that bring pressure, or does it just reinforce your self-belief?
I mean, I think about it every single day because it blows my mind that I’m in TMD! I’m so inspired by everyone in the crew. When I was younger, I would use my friend’s computer, because I didn’t have one at home, just to look at pictures of TMD productions and stuff, so it blows my mind really. It did give me the push in confidence to have my own exhibition, because I wanted to in the past, but I was worried that no one would really come or turn up, but I have gotten to the point now that I don’t really care anymore. I am also not making art to for the intention of anyone buying or anything like that, I’m making it because it’s stuff that I’ve always wanted to make and it’s a reflection of myself. Although it is all for sale!
That’s really important I think, because it is quite rare. For a lot of people an exhibition is a way to sell work, to make money, so to have an exhibition where you can be more honest in terms of what you want to say and you can make work that’s important to you, it must make the whole process more satisfying on a personal level…
Yeah, as I mentioned, I wanted to do a whole research aspect and have detailed stories behind each work, but I didn’t have the time and funds to do all that. But it feels more freeing to just do what I feel like doing in the moment and do whatever is topical or influenced by whatever podcast I’m listening to, or if I’m angry or sad or happy, then make something based around that. I feel like it takes the pressure off, and I feel like it gives it more authenticity…
Do you have a defined idea of how the whole show will look?
Sort of, but not really. I’m not sure if they will all really match or anything, it’s just like my brain spilling onto a painting. But I have four paintings so far, and it’s quite a big space so I’ll see what happens. It was quite a short turn around, they asked me a couple of months ago, so I guess I’ve had four months to get it all ready, which sounds like a long time, but it’s not really, especially when you’re trying to do a hundred other things. Paintings take so much longer than anything else. But yeah, I’ll see what I can do!
Who do you want to thank?
Red and Tommy from the Hip Hop Summit and YCD [Youth & Cultural Development], Nina from Fibre Gallery for making me do it, Selina and the FSA and TMD crews, and of course, Callum!
What do people need to know about Trials?
The show will open on the 4th of October at Fibre Gallery on Cashel Street, where my mural Navigation is on the side of the building. I think it opens at 6pm. We have DJ INFARED playing. I might bring some Speights…
Jacob Root, a.k.a Distranged Design has a way of getting on with things – whether it is flying across the world to immerse himself in the creative scene in Los Angeles, or staging exhibitions of his work here in Ōtautahi Christchurch, he tends to find ways to make things happen. For his latest solo show, Reclaimed, he set about making a body of work that both explored new ways of making (from paint application to the use of up-cycled materials), and found a space through a mural contact – eventually coming to life in a weekend pop-up show.
The well-attended opening night, despite the drizzly Friday evening, showed that Distranged Design has built a solid following of fans eager to see his latest work. The showroom setting afforded a spacious and uncluttered layout for his large works, many painted on recycled palettes and found objects. The styles employed also highlighted a changing approach, clearly influenced by the artist’s increasingly large mural works. The stencil background is still apparent, including the Snik-inspired Moire-styled technique, but a new painterly approach, deploying more freely constructed layers, is arising, an approach the artist admits is, in part, to give relief from the work-heavy cutting process.
Despite his youth, Distranged Design has been a presence in Ōtautahi’s scene for several years, and Reclaimed shows an artist beginning to explore new paths…
Jacob Root, a.k.a Distranged Design is proud to present Reclaimed – a pop-up exhibition of new works on old surfaces at a temporary space at 4 Cranford Street, opening 6pm Friday, July 12.
Reclaimed will present works painted on up-cycled materials, including pallets, window frames, and used timber, providing a fitting textural surface for his exploration of aerosol – the artist moving beyond traditional stencil approaches and into freehand spraying, thick brush stroke portraits and experimental stencil techniques. We asked Jacob a couple of questions about the show…
Stencilling can be interesting as a technique, you kind of need to find new approaches as you refine the process – what new influences have you developed for Reclaimed and how did they come about?
I think the main influence of trying new techniques was travel, but also the amount of murals I’ve done over the last couple of years where I didn’t have the opportunity or time to cut stencils, so I had to get better at freehand spraying. After it started clicking I just really enjoyed it more, as it’s more hands on painting rather than cutting stencils for hours on end. Also the fact my hand and arm cramps and aches for hours after cutting stencils, it didn’t seem like a long term plan as my only way of creating artworks.
Material surfaces are really important for stencilling and by extension aerosol, too, how much work has to go into making the ‘canvasses’ for Reclaimed?
So far a lot has gone into messing around and rebuilding items, which I’m really loving. Driving around scavenging items that I can beautify by rebuilding, sanding, then painting on them has been incredibly satisfying, and the edginess and grit of the canvases I’ve found compliments my style. I’ve got a lot more to do in the next couple of weeks leading up to the show though!
What is the location for Reclaimed and how did that opportunity come about?
The location is 4 Cranford Street, it’s a new build by Duogroup. Duogroup are the building owners of the wall that Rightbrain and I painted our Sir Ed Hillary mural on, so I decided to get in contact with them and they were kind enough to jump at the idea and let me use their space.
Reclaimed is made possible by the support of Duogroup and the Inkster Company.
Make sure to catch Reclaimed – opening 6pm, Friday, July 12 and open until Sunday, July 14.
Masked Artist Photography Show 2024 is a group show featuring eight artists from Ōtautahi and wider Aotearoa, surveying a range of photographic approaches and techniques. Hosted by The Masked Artist Gallery and Studios at their Boxed Quarter base, the show runs from June 16th to July 1st, with regular opening hours between 12pm and 6:30pm every day. Spanning traditional film, instant photos, digital and avant-garde experimental forms, the Photography Show 2024 illuminates the scope of contemporary photography as a way to capture our environments and experiences, from evocative urban landscapes to portraiture and more exploratory works that revel in textural and layered design elements. It could be argued that photography’s ubiquity and accessibility, as well as the increased platforms for sharing work, have dulled us to photography’s power, but here, poetry, mystery, craft and story-telling are at the fore, a reminder of photography’s power and potential. Masked Artist Photography Show 2024 features work by @lucas.twocus, @lifeisshortforabadlife, @cultsandmystics, @jermaineggggardner, @rhis_painter and more…
Like all good garage sale-rs (I’m not sure about you, but I think ‘garage sailors’ is an apt moniker, maybe we can start a trend), we rugged up and got there early for the opening of Daken’s Garage Sale with Lucky Dips at Absolution Tattoo and Piercing in the Arts Centre. A tribute to Kiwiana and nostalgia, with lots of playful mash-ups and pop culture references, Daken’s concept for a good old fashioned garage sale was imbued with his always present sense of humour and earnest drive to make things. Like any good garage sale, there were surprising treasures, with accompanying ephemera, from vintage cassette tapes to a Donkey Kong board game and a Bunnings T-Shirt, to a raft of familiar influences; Bumble, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Four Square and more. For a healthy dose of charming fun, check out Garage Sale with Lucky Dips at Absolution and pick up a few treasures!
If you have an exhibition opening coming, let us know – email us at [email protected]
