Northtec graduating arts students' lockdown work on display

Paige Siobhan Pollington with her mixed-media shadowbox, Immolation. Photo / Matthew Scott

Lockdown provoking creativity and introspection is one of the underlying themes to an exhibition showcasing the work of this year's graduating Applied Arts class at NorthTec.

The exhibition kicked off

this week with an opening event at NorthTec's Geoff Wilson Gallery.

The 12 third year students produced a diverse range of work, including sculpture, video, illustrated books and photography, while dealing with the adverse conditions of lockdown.

Bachelor of Applied Arts graduand Paige Siobhan Pollington, who created a series of mixed media shadowboxes, said lockdown posed unique challenges which ultimately shaped the tone of the show.

The show has been given the name On a personal level, which Pollington said reflected the nature of the work.

"We picked that name because a lot of the work this year seemed to be quite personal," she said.

Pollington said lockdown encouraged the artists to find inspiration from their internal lives.

"We all seemed to look into ourselves and bring that all out into our work," she said.

"When you're stuck at home and you can't go out into the world and have external experiences, you start to go internal."

Lockdown also challenged the artists to get creative with their materials and studio space.

"It happened so early in the year, most of us hadn't ordered our supplies," Pollington said. "A lot of them have to come from overseas when you're doing specialty stuff."

Pollington decided to use a lot of found objects in her shadowboxes and not rely on specialty paper.

"There were definite challenges," she said. "Even after lockdown, there were still problems with supply."

The course relying heavily on the practical side of things meant lockdown hampered the students considerably.

"During lockdown and level 3 we weren't allowed on campus at all," Pollington said. "It was pretty frustrating, but understandable as well. Mostly we were just jonesing to get back in the studio."

Class tutor Jolene Pascoe was impressed with the work produced despite the difficult circumstances.

"I'm an ex-graduate so I know how hard this year is," she said to the students at the opening. "On top of that, you've come through and withstood a massive event for New Zealand and you've been resilient."

Tutor Murray Gibbs said the work of the students was an example of achieving success locally in a world where Covid-19 has restricted travel.

"The new catch-cry is that we need to stay local," he said. "And these students have stayed close but gone far."

Gibbs dedicated the show to Jimmy, a Chinese international student who was unable to join the course at the beginning of the year due to travel restrictions.

"She would have graduated alongside this mob," said Gibbs. "So the show is for her."

The exhibition will be on until November 19, and is open from 11am to 4pm.

Other works of note included Jonathan Paul Hemsworth's film exploring the effects of light pollution in Whangārei, and Lux Lumiere's multimedia storytelling piece, Valda Heart & the Great Accident.

A selection of the works are available for purchase, with details available at the front desk of the Geoff Wilson Gallery.