MADAME MORISON
Her inspiration comes from her immediate surroundings. Her ideas stem from everyday oddities. Julia Morison's curiosity for her materials means that she is constantly pushing the boundaries for creating something new.
Madame Morison graduated from the Wellington Polytechnic with a diploma of graphic design, and then went on to gain an honours degree at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 1975. After 30 years of practice, Morison's career has seen her multi-genre works installed in galleries and public art spaces throughout Australasia and Europe.
Morison has received a number of awards, including the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago in 1988, and the prestigious New Zealand Moet and Chandon Fellowship in 1990.
Guided by instinct, she forms an order from the chaos of her materials. Morison's experimentation with incompatible materials is what inspires her work and her followers. Her 1988 'Shit and Gold' works generated a strong reaction from the art community, who were affected by the emotional power linked to the substances used.
Throughout years of experimentation and collaborative work, Morison has developed a complex symbolic system of which to base to her art. Using an innovative process, Morison is currently creating new works, which involves mixing contrasting varnishes. She has also recently opened her own gallery in Christchurch, 63zero3, with fellow artist Helen Calder. It is a venture that will allow Morison to continue to experiment, because ultimately it is the unknown that motivates Morison's artworks.
THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE
The art of wedding photography. For most married couples, the wedding photograph is second in importance, and only barely, to vows. And it takes a lot longer than saying them and for many lasts longer. It is the most significant photograph the couple will ever have of themselves, often the only time they will hire a professional photographer. Its role in the household and family life is so important that it must truly stand the test of time.
That's quite a responsibility for the wedding photographer to bear. But is it art? What are the photographers themselves trying to achieve with the image? Could there be any creative expression possible under such pressure, and when most wedding photographs look pretty much alike? This documentary looks at the work and lives of five quite different photographers and unearths the truism that whatever the arguments, a wedding still remains 'the best time of my life'.
The photographers are John Rykenberg, a Dutch migrant, now in his 80s and still working, whose working life spans the decades from the 60s; Sue Gee, a Chinese New Zealander, who recently retired, and whose archives have been gifted to the Research Library at the Auckland City Library; Evotia Tamua, a Samoan, who practices in both Auckland and Samoa; and two artists, Geoffrey Heath and Deborah Smith, who have made wedding photography, at times, part of their practice.” TVNZ; tvnz.co.nz; 29/05/2006