The Good Oil
by Graeme Douglas
The Good Oil is dedicated to long form conversations with Aotearoa / New Zealand painters about their lives and practices.
Podcast episodes
Season 1
EP 15 Imogen Taylor
In this episode I visit Imogen Taylor in her studio in Henderson, West Auckland.Imogen has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Post Graduate Diploma of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Arts at the University of Auckland. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, The Fletcher Collection and The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. In 2017 Imogen was the artist in residence at McCahon House, and in 2019 was the recipient of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship.There are images of the paintings we talk about on The Good Oil Imogen Taylor Instagram post for your reference.In this episode you’ll hear Imogen talk about how she aspires to embody the same qualities that are reflected in the materials that she uses, her celebration of NZ regionalism in her practice by applying a drag sensibility to it, her clear appreciation for modernism, wanting to protect illegibility in painting, how heartbreaking she finds parting with work when it leaves the studio, she shamelessly reveals herself to be a colour nerd and not a very good painter.LinksImogen Taylor Instagram PageMicheal Lett Imogen Taylor Artist Web PageThe Good Oil Instagram Page
EP 14 Kirstin Carlin
In this episode I visit Kirstin Carlin in her studio in Mt Roskill, Auckland.Kirstin has a Master of Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art.Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, and she has exhibited widely locally and internationally, including at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.She is represented in NZ by Melanie Roger Gallery in Auckland, and regularly exhibits with The Central Art Gallery in Christchurch.There are images of the works we talk about on The Good Oil Kirstin Carlin Instagram post for your to reference.In this episode you’ll hear Kirstin speak about how she is influenced by slightly obscure Scottish painters, how much work never makes it out of the studio, how a throw away exercise in problem solving opened up unexpected new approaches to painting, a constant awareness of colour combinations the world presents, obsessing over Matisse… and some of her unlikely reference material.LinksKirstin Carlin Instagram PageMelanie Roger Gallery Kirstin Carlin Artist Web PageThe Central Art Gallery Kirstin Carlin Artist Web PageThe Good Oil Instagram Page
EP 13 Jude Rae
In this episode I speak with an honorary NZ painter that holds an Australian passport, Jude Rae.Jude has a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Professional Art Studies from the University of NSW and a Master of Arts in Painting from the University of Canterbury.Her work is held in numerous NZ and International public and private collections, including The Fletcher Collection, The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhtu, The Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Taimaki and Te Papa. She is represented in NZ by Two Rooms gallery in Auckland.In this episode you’ll hear Jude speak about her formative and influential time spent in Christchurch, how doubt in her painting is a baseline state for her, her exploration of the complexities of vision mixed with our other senses and trying to capture that in her work and the unforgettable experience of driving through a Colin McCahon landscape for the first time.LinksJude Rae InstagramTwo Rooms Jude Rae Artist PageThe Good Oil Instagram Page
EP 12 Dick Frizzell
In this episode I visit Dick Frizzell in his home and studio in Mt Eden, Auckland.Dick is some six decades into a practice that is as diverse in output as it is long. He is responsible for some of the most iconic contemporary images of NZ art that reflect a drive of restless creativity that embraces artistic impression and applied art.Dick holds a Diploma of Fine Art from the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. He has had countless exhibitions in the last 50 years and has also authored or illustrated several books. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Te Papa, The Fletcher Collection, The Ballin Collection and at your cousins house.Dick is represented by Gow Langsford in Auckland, Page Galleries in Wellington, The Central Art Gallery in Ototahi and Milford Galleries in Dunedin and Queenstown.In this episode you’ll hear Dick talk about how landscape painting offered a new subject and important salvation at a critical point in his life and practice, how his time at Ilam in the early 1960’s intersected with some of Aotearoa’s most influential painters… the steady flow of cease and desist letters arriving in his letterbox, the presence of Colin McCahon in his paintings… his fear of professionalism and how dumb the word ‘cauli’ is.LinksDick Frizzell InstagramGow Langsford Dick Frizzell Artist WebPageMilford Galleries Dick Frizzell Artist Web PageThe Central Art Gallery Dick Frizzell Artist Web PageIt’s All About The Image bookThe Good Oil Instagram Page
EP 11 Arie Hellendoorn
In this episode I visit Arie Hellendoorn in his home and studio in Lower Hutt, Wellington.Arie holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massey University. He has exhibited in galleries in Australia and NZ for over 15 years and is held in several public and private collections including the Chris Parkin Collection and the Wellington City Council Collection. He is represented by Suite Gallery in Wellington and Auckland.You’ll hear Arie talk about how he came to his hybrid approach that mixes representation, abstraction and portraiture, his interest in the microscopic and human anatomy informing his practice, the careful optical considerations of colour and colour mixing to create the effects he wants, the diverse range of unlikely tools he uses for applying paint and sourcing his favourite brushes by stealing them from his daughters watercolour set.LinksArie Hellendoorn Instagram PageSuite Gallery Arie Hellendoorn Artist PageThe Good Oil Instagram Page