A Glimpse Behind ‘Picturing Aotearoa’
Stuart Clook and Ellen Jarrett discuss the upcoming exhibition: Picturing Aotearoa, his hopes for his artist residency, and 19th-century photography techniques/processes.
Last weekend, I had the privilege of speaking with Stuart Clook, a creative genius exhibiting his work at Pūmanawa Art Gallery in the Arts Centre to launch his artist residency at Photosynthesis that runs over the next couple of months. During the last eight years, Stuart’s exhibitions have been in Melbourne, China and across New Zealand. Picturing Aotearoa will be his first major solo show held in the heart of our city. This exhibition will showcase his eminent passion for the 19th-century techniques and processes he uses, and is driven by his desire for others to learn about and engage with this form of art.
Stuart illustrates the unique landscapes of Aotearoa in a distinctive way with inspiration from the Pictorial and Tonalism movements. He shared with me that his love for this niche form of printmaking began 10 years ago when he found an old photo of his great-grandfather and wanted to restore it for future generations. After playing around with apps that make pseudo tintypes, he wondered how the processes could be done in practice. It amazes me how something small can turn into discovering a different side of yourself.
Many of his processes require a dark room so Stuart has converted his garage to accommodate his practice. It is here where he will hold hands-on workshops on developing black and white film and silver-gelatin printmaking so everyone can bring their photos to life with the right tools and learn new skills.
Spending most of his time in his darkroom in Governors Bay, Stuart loves developing and printing processes as much as his time out taking photos . Using a combination of techniques from the 19th century and technology like Photoshop and inkjet printers from the 21st century, Stuart said “I like to think I use the magic of yesterday and the wizardry of today's digital world when I make my prints”. Stuart’s eye for detail and scientific processes is evident in his work, and this extends to his day job: quality control for medical equipment. I could tell from our conversations how the scientific aspects of his practice drives his creative passion.
Unlike most nature photography of New Zealand that I’ve seen, the work Stuart will display is all monochrome with features of colour in some pieces. I’m interested to see whether his body of work will be of natural features that are normally blue or green, or whether they are monochrome in reality too. In the future, Stuart will be changing his style and experimenting with colour, but still with black and white film. In his in-studio days during the residency, he is building a new body of tri-chrome work. Photosynthesis is inviting everybody to take part, as this is your chance to join him in his experiments.
My favourite part of our conversation was about the pinhole camera made from wood that sits on grass. I was excited when he said, “I think of pinhole cameras as providing an opportunity to see the world with a rabbit's eye view” because photos taken from this viewpoint are my favourite - I can’t wait to see his take on this. Stuart and I share an appreciation for nature: it is the main subject of both of our art. I am excited to see his pictures of Aotearoa and the effect it has on others. I think there is nothing more beautiful than the natural world around us, for it brings out our inner creativity.
Come along and see Stuart’s body of work in the first week of April so you can be inspired by this talented man and Aotearoa.
Picturing Aotearoa - The Art and Craft of the Handmade Print [https://www.artscentre.org.nz/whats-on/picturing-aotearoa-the-art-and-craft-of-the-handmade-print/)
Mon 1 to Sun 7 April
Opening 6pm Tue 2 April
Pumanawa Gallery, Arts Centre
Residency In-Studio Days [https://www.photosynthesis.nz/stuart-clook]
Fridays, starting 12 April
Photosynthesis, Stuart’s Darkroom, On-location
