Blooming New
Several years ago, while walking on a very special bush track tucked away down the back of my uncle’s home in New Plymouth, a new bloom caught my attention. Through the shadow of dense and dripping trees came a glimpse of synthetic colour, a sparkle of glitter; Reuben Paterson had moved into the neighbourhood.
Paterson (Ngati Rangitihi, Ngai Tuhoe, Tuhourangi, Scottish) emerged from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1997, and in the years following established himself as a singular voice within the ranks of this country’s contemporary artists. His works in glitter became more widely known from the early 2000s, ranging from luminous kowhaiwhai, to retro florals, to op-art patterns and kaleidoscopic colour. In his work, Paterson collapsed time and culture, bringing together his own Maori and Pakeha histories, mixing the past and present, casting a glittering and altogether celebratory light across everything he touched.
Paterson’s distinctive approach attracted national and international attention, and his work has been included in major exhibitions of contemporary art throughout New Zealand and the world. He has also participated in a number of significant artist-in-residency programmes, including the Moët et Chandon Fellowship, Avize, France in 1997, and the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York City, 2006.
More recently, in 2013, Paterson took up an artist’s residency at New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. What started as a three-month stay in Taranaki soon became more permanent, and the former Aucklander has now made New Plymouth his home. The move has brought with it new experiences and opportunities, and I asked him how he is negotiating all the influences that this shift has instigated on his work. Reuben Paterson: I love being in the belly of this creative space! I have two bodies of work that I am interested in at the moment; it’s the first time I’ve decided to extend one, and begin another simultaneously. The first is an extension to the Aroma of Black series I began when I moved to New Plymouth in 2015, which began as a series of floral botanical compositions set against a black background. The current works in this botanical series are inspired by Cook Island tivaevae, and in July this year I exhibited them alongside the tivaevae artist Tungane Broadbent at Bergman Gallery in Rarotonga.
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