Hellyar to take part in Wild Creations

Auckland sculptor Christine Hellyar is one of three people selected to take part in the inaugural Wild Creations artist-in-residence programme. The aim of the six-week residencies, set up by the Department of Conservation and Creative New Zealand, is to encourage artists "to create work inspired by New Zealand's unique places, people, stories and natural environments".

Hellyar will spend six weeks early next year in Egmont National Park, the area she grew up in which inspired her imagination from an early age. She will build a collection of sculptures, photographs and drawings for an exhibition, and will "work with the idea of vegetation as the cloak on the body of the land".

Wellington writer Jo Randerson's residency is in Cape Kidnappers, from October until December; she will write short stories and a solo theatre piece. And Christchurch film-maker Zoe Roland is off to Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf next year to make a video about flora and fauna. Given her record as an innovator of style, this will be no ordinary nature-lesson flick.