A native Canadian painter has encouraged local artists to embrace their culture within their work during a week-long residency at Waiariki Institute of Technology.
Jason Baerg, a visual artist of native American descent from Toronto, Canada, said he embraced native American ideologies in his work to reflect his ethnic background and believed New Zealand artists should do the same.
"New Zealand has a strong legacy in history so I hope my work can inspire others to share their stories. I love the notion that we are all unique," he said.
Mr Baerg, who described his style as digital media mixed with painting, has been a professional painter for 15 years and won the Canadian Ministry of Culture Emerging Artist Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2008.
He said he believed artists needed to constantly reinvent themselves to stay relevant, which was why he used multimedia technology. "My work is as much about painting as it is about the concept, so I am constantly trying to experiment. As artists we are charged with pushing our disciplines forward and art should express where we are today," he said.