HUIA HAMON
Visual Artist & Musician

HOW WERE YOU FIRST INTRODUCED TO THIS TYPE OF WORK AND WHAT DID YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR EARLY EXPLORATION OF IT? 

I am lucky enough to have been brought into an artistic household with every art material I could have possibly needed! I started in acrylic then found oils in my late teens..... but I'm too messy, so thats where the acrylics came back in, and much more recently, using black pen and paper.

HOW HAS YOUR WORK CHANGED AND DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS? WHAT FACTORS DO YOU THINK AFFECTED THIS?

I'm not sure it changed a lot, as I've always been fairly abstract in my content, using natural forms in an abstract way. I used to 'paint to sell' but I'm not so worried about that aspect anymore, which has made me free to draw what I like.

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHERE YOU WORK FROM?

I have very portable studio! So sometimes downstairs in the studio (pre-newborn), on the kitchen table, out on the deck and when I travel, just do my pen work or colouring on the beach or in a corner by the fire at a friends house.

WHAT DO YOU FIND SPECIAL ABOUT LIVING OUT WEST?

Its just so beautiful... Papatūanuku!

WHAT CAN VISITORS EXPECT TO SEE WHEN THEY POP BY YOUR STUDIO DURING OPEN STUDIOS WAITAKERE? 

A real working house and studio in action... probably kids running round! Not a showroom, fresh kai from the garden and a host of different creatives. Lots of trees and a huge view. I'm hoping to set it up outside where I usually work.

NAME YOUR TOP 5 SECRET SPOTS YOU LIKE TO VISIT IN THE WAITAKERE RANGES?

Not telling! In our mini valley its very private and beautiful so we go to the bottom of our hill incline (sacred pool). I love our secret glass shrimp pools on the beaches, a small secluded beach by the park, under the guava tree and an ancient Puriri tucked away next door.

Map Number: 4
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Photography by Sarah Allen