Each season, Aratoi chooses one artist to be the Featured Artist in their shop. This spring we have asked artist Sheyne Tuffery to show a series of his works in the retail space.
Tuffery’s art practice has evolved over the course of his 27-year career as a visual artist, and his mixed heritage of Samoan and Scandinavian/Celt ancestry has played a significant role in his work.
He attended art school at the Auckland Society of Arts from 1992 to 1995, majoring in printmaking and experimenting with various disciplines before settling on relief woodblock as a medium that suited his dynamic style.
Tuffery has included a variety of work for his featured artist wall. The first work you notice is the circular impressive work Cloak, made from routed plywood with wood stain, hanging in the centre.
“The concept of Cloak stemmed from a series of projects in which I deconstructed a Siapo Tapa design from Samoa to create a new form of identity reflective of my mixed heritage background,” Tuffery said.
Tuffery’s inspiration for works comes from the unlikeliest of places. Like most of us during the lockdowns a few years ago, he would go on walks with his son.
“During the initial covid-19 lockdowns, my son and I embarked on a leaf and feather collection adventure in our local park as a way to pass the time. We brought these natural finds home and attempted hand-printing without the use of a press,” he said.
“This activity reconnected me with the serene essence of our city amidst the lockdown’s stillness, offering a respite from the usual urban noise and daily pollution.”
The monoprint results from those excursions are Forage II, All Living Entities, Rangiora and Kawakawa and Kete 101.
Tuffery enjoys using a multi-disciplinary approach to art making, utilising various mediums to explore his mixed heritage, futuristic Pacific architecture, environmental issues, and popular science, including a newfound love of astronomy.
Since working on a project with Carter Observatory/Space Place a few years ago and Tuffery discovered astronomy. “I learnt so much there,” he said, “I’m quite the space nerd now.”
Sheyne Tuffery’s work is on display in the Aratoi shop until December.
