The Path Panel Discussion

Saturday 22 January | 11am - 12.15pm
As part of The Path, Hastings City Art Gallery Curator Clayton Gibson, will be leading a panel discussion about the practice of art and surfing, and their impact on one another. Artists including John Walsh, Margaret Hansen, Aaron Kereopa and Aaron Topp will be speaking as part of this discussion.

Please note, all visitors to the Gallery during this event will need their My Vaccine Pass scanned before entry. This includes those visiting between 10am and 11am on Saturday, January 22.

John Walsh
John Walsh (b.1954, Aitanga a Hauiti/ New Zealand Irish) grew up in Tolaga Bay and now lives on the south coast of Wellington, where the sea continues to surf across his canvases. He melds histories of migration and colonialism with contemporary narratives and mythologies in a vibrant and fluid application of paint. Many of his works depict ethereal landscapes populated by a cast of anthropomorphic and contemporary characters toiling with various aspects of the human condition.

Margaret Hansen
Drive to the end, or some might say the beginning of Makorori Beach and you'll see Margaret's inspiration. Her paintings capture a blink, a glimpse of something that's observed then gone; the lick of wind off the reef, clouds lowering over the sea, a subtle shift in light.

Margaret's She Shed perches behind her house and it really is her happy place. She’s painted, drawn, written and made all her life. Margaret loves the magic of living by the reef and what she finds there, like octopus that tickle her toes, stingrays that walk around with her, seals that haul up on her deck for days at a time, and views as far as Rocket Lab. 

Margaret is known for her observations of the ephemera of this environment and it’s ever shifting ways. For her sea/skyscapes, she often challenges herself by working with a restricted palette. In this way she must say what she wants with subtle, nuanced technique rather than with colours. As well as the sea and sky, Margaret's also captured by the surrounding bush, flower and plant forms in her little slice of wilderness.

Aaron Kereopa
Ko Tainui te waka, Ko Waikato te iwi, Ko Ngāti Tahinga, Ko Ngāti Hine, Ko Ngāti Porou ngā hapu 

Aaron Kereopa is a self-taught artist. His journey carving up-cycled surfboards began over 20 years ago when he was inspired by a protestor on television wielding a surfboard carved with “No Nukes in the Pacific”. His work fuses traditional carving ideas with a contemporary art practice, with his storytelling depicted through his personal life experiences. Like Tā moko and whakairo, Aaron’s work utilises a visual language that acts as a code, drawing on themes both universal and personal such as mythology, geography, his tūpuna, whakapapa, and navigation.

Aaron Topp
Aaron Topp is an award winning author. He was born in Waipukurau and has worked as a primary school teacher. He currently lives in Hawke’s Bay.

His first book, Single Fin (Random House, 2006), is a coming of age tale about a boy obsessed with surfing. The work won the Young Adult Fiction Honour Award at the 2007 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and was also listed as a 2007 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book.

Creating Waves: How Surfing Inspires our most Creative New Zealanders (HarperCollins, 2009) is an exploration of the relationship of the role surfing and the sea plays in the creative lives of a selection of leading musicians, painters, sculptors, poets and fellow writers.

2015 saw the publication of Young Adult novel Hucking Cody: A Tale of Betrayal, Jealousy, Brotherly Love and Freeriding (Mary Egan Publishing). The novel tells the story of Cody, a young mountain biker whose unlucky run with girls, his family, and his job starts him on a journey of self-discovery. Hucking Cody received a Storylines Notable Book Award in 2016 and was a finalist for the Young Adult Fiction Award in the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

In February 2022 Aaron heads back to the beach with the launch of Young Adult novel Nor’east Swell (One Tree House).