Judith Kunzlé

None of the drawings take longer than half an hour… they are spontaneous life-studies. If you are interested in participating and modeling, please send a message.

You must be living, and/or be born and raised in The Cook Islands.

John Carter Q.S.O.

Maria Tanner

William Framhein

Takingaiva Tau Eitiare

Fletcher Melvin

Vaea Melvin

Tania Moana Wichman

Trevor Pitt

Bobby Turua

Calida Smylie

Noel Bartley

John McElhinney

Les Priest

Daniel A Forsyth

Tonumaivao Navy Epati

Click here for more portraits.

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Who would like to…

judith — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:30:56 +0000

… model for me?

My new project is called “People”. Actually, I’ve been drawing people all along, like many other artists, so that’s not new nor very original.

But it will be interesting, and I am posting this because I would like the co-operation of my friends.

It would not take much of your time. No session will be longer than half and hour, as I will sketch quickly to do spontaneous portraits. If possible, I’d like to sketch each person 2-3 times to get different impressions.

I have a bit of practice in drawing, but rather than aiming to do perfect portraits, I want to explore “what comes out” in these sketches.

I’m not sure I will ever exhibit the results, and if I do, everyone who modeled will have a say if it’s OK or not. This isn’t a commercial venture, but a spontaneous and informal interaction between the model and artist, and research into the drawing process.

The sketching stuff is in my car ready for action any time. So, will you sit for me, please?

These are quick sketches of people I have met in China.

Next to the bus I was in, I caught the driver of another bus snoozing at a red light.

This young girl at a market had been watching me sketch.

A Buddha cut from a block of marble was looking at me.

I would never have dared to ask this dignified old man, but he offered to model for me.

Terracotta Soldier

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Contact

vbond — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:24:48 +0000

Salsa Duo limited edition

Comments or questions are welcome.

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Behind the Art: About a Paddle

judith — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:22:20 +0000

This is the first in an on-going series of posts on the story and the thinking behind some of the great art that has been created in The Cook Islands and by Cook Islanders everywhere.

Artists do not often have the opportunity to expand on the meaning of their individual works during an exhibition. This series is that chance.

The floor is open to Judith Kunzlé, who discusses “Paddle Spirit,” the paddle that she created for The Art Studio’s Oe Vaka Exhibition, images of which you will find on this site.

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"Paddle Spirit" - 2nd from right

The Paddle.

The paddle is facing me. What will I do with it? The wood is different to paper, what does it offer as a medium? I could burn, or paint , or draw. What do I put on the paddle?

Obvious thoughts first: the traditional decoration would be Polynesian patterns.

I’d like to burn, but I also like to work ‘figurative’: a crab, a taro tuber, tiare, tree, bird (flying?), a seashell. Something that would follow the form of the paddle. But what would a crab, tree, seashell on this paddle mean?

What about food? It’s one of my, and everybody else’s, favourite themes. Or mountains – another subject I like, but why would I put those on a paddle?

The technique of burning invites texture, crisp, even marks. I used to be interested in texture, was endlessly patient to draw fur, feathers, etc. Now I’m more interested in form, anatomy, preferably dynamically moving.

I turn the paddle around, handle down blade up, it has a figurative presence now.

Why would I have a form (body of a thing) on a form (paddle)? The most obvious reason is to decorate the paddle. Or to create a contrast, using the paddle as a point of departure, its flat surface versus spatial…?

Belgian artist Rene Magritte painted this pipe in 1929 and stated: this is not a pipe, it is a painting.

This is no paddle. It is…. I want to transform the-paddle-used-for-paddling into another object, idea, perception.

Into another material… drawing fur, an animal with eyes, with a mouth or beak, a nose… a face… what face?

A Buddha, a paddle ghost… the Paddle Spirit.

What do we expect of a Spirit?

Is it a she or a he? Which race? Is it even human?

Or maybe it’s better to keep a distance from this touchy theme, focus on a cat instead, a creature on top of the food chain, with eyes on the front of the face, like us.

Eyes, looking.

The face would not be a predator though… it would be friendly, have a sense of humour. It would be beautiful, whatever it is: clear eyes, looking directly, no games.

Looking but not watching… open, but not seductive… expectant but not threatening.

No established spirit of course, no old man, no earth mother, no white, black, yellow, brown,… no race or identity that excludes.

Form, but not identity… how?

I want to aim for an approachable beauty, but not a person we try to recognise as someone else, no: who is it?

Not a generic face, a cliché face, a kitsch face.

Neither a “hard head” nor an ambivalent expression. Rather – the way we would look inside ourselves. Or what comes out when I draw?

Drawing was like modeling in clay… the face coming out from the paddle, whose heart-shape defines the facial contours.

I focused on drawing raw, direct, freely, experimenting and accepting what comes out, letting the emerging form talk.

I did eight studies on paper, then two on the paddle, sanding it down again until this one.

Paddle Spirit - Judith Kunzlé - VakaEiva2012

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Secretary Hillary Clinton visits The Cook Islands and receives Cook Islands Art

vbond — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 08:22:00 +0000

Friday, 31 August, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed dignitaries, officials, and the public today during Pacific Forum week.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in National Auditorium

Hillary Clinton and Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna

Pa Ariki and Cook Islands artist Judith Kunzlé went together to our National Auditorium today to meet Hilary Clinton.

Pa Ariki and Judith Kunzlé on their way to the National Auditorium

Pa met with and discussed important issues with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during secretary Clinton’s meetings with officials after the 43rd Pacific Forum.

Pa Ariki on Ariki Day 2012

: Pa Ariki and Hillary Clinton, with Cook Islands Deputy Prime Minister Tom Marsters

Pa Ariki with Hilary Clinton [Photo by Sam Napa]

She also presented Secretary Clinton with a gift of Cook Islands art, Aitutaki Action Song Dancer [Print #1], by Judith Kunzlé.

Aitutaki Action Song Dancer

Secretary Clinton was delighted with the gift, and later warmly greeted Judith and thanked her again.

Hillary Clinton and Judith Kunzlé

It was a great week for The Cook Islands.

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Black Rock Apii Potiki Lagoon Room Exhibition

judith — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 02:29:39 +0000

Here are a few images from the lovely reception on 23 October, at the Black Rock Apii Potiki [Pre-School] for Judith Kunzlé, the creator of the Lagoon Room.

The Principal, Stephanie Puiri, initiated this project and is doing a wonderful job.

Renowned local artist Joan Gragg attended, and fashioned two of her gorgeous Ei… one for her and one for Judith.

Who knew that Spiderman would be there?

…and that Spiderman was such an ART LOVER?

Judith described her painstaking efforts to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of every fish.

A good time was had by all…

And we mean ALL!

Combining her knowledge of natural history and keen familiarity with The Cook Islands’ lagoon fish, Judith has created an aquatic wonderland.

She hand-painted more than thirty completely accurate Cook Islands lagoon fish on the walls and doors of one of the classrooms.

Stephanie Puiri, Principal of the Black Rock Apii Potiki [Pre-School] invited parents and the public to the school to see the hard work that is going into the school as a whole, and in particular to see The Lagoon Room.

Kunzlé is very proud of her work on this voluntary project. In addition to appealing to small children with their vibrant colors and expressions, these fish are all absolutely faithful in shape and colour to those which swim in Rarotonga waters a few hundred feet from the school door.

Blue Damsel

It is simply amazing.

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Shadowbox test

vbond — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:11:46 +0000

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Art Critique

vbond — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:11:07 +0000

Paul Gauguin: Teha'amana, 1891

Vincent Van Gogh: The Starry Night, 1889

Paul Cézanne: Still Life with Watermelon, 1906

Once upon a time, art was mainly created to pay tribute to a god, tell a story or to decorate, and it’s meaning was obvious to the members of the culture. During the last two centuries, visual art of even the remotest cultures has traveled all over the world, art forms have influenced and developed in so many new directions, that it would be arrogant to demand that we ought to understood it all without introduction. Art critics, art historians, curators and artists are supposed to enlighten and inform us, but unfortunately, eye-opening introductions are not too common. Instead of communicating, those experts often fill our heads with complicated, trendy jargon that confuses and intimidates us enough to be too scared to ask questions.

Subjective stuff

But to be fair to the interpreters of art, translating visual art into words isn’t easy. Most art works have more than one meaning and much is to be “read between the lines”. The fact that a work of art looks and means a different thing to me than to you, makes it even more confusing. Art is not objective, and the condition that it can be seen in different ways is fascinating – but it’s also a real challenge to anyone trying to explain a piece of art, without misleading or spoiling it for other viewers. Some works just appeal to us and we don’t necessarily need to figure out why we enjoy them. Other pieces seem strange, without a theme or a recognizable pattern, without…

….here we go, listing all the things that we cannot find, and this is precisely why we don’t like a piece of art: we can’t find what we expect, know or understand. But often, works like these can open up a new perspective, if we take a little time to let them speak to us.

Claude Monet: Waterlilies 1914

Finding the evidence

The best approach to unfamiliar or challenging works is positive critique: trying to find out “what is there” by going close, stepping back, looking again and if possible, asking the artist what was intended. Of course it’s much easier to lament over what is not there, and this is probably where the term “art critique” originated.

Prominent art critics of all ages have taken great pride in verbally ripping works and artists apart, impressing the public with their authority and knowledge – only to be proved wrong a few years later, when the shunned works have become recognized as new masterpieces. Many of the great heroes of art weren’t accepted in their lifetime. Cézanne, Van Gogh, Monet and Gauguin were either not known or ridiculed by the critics and curators, while they quietly changed the course of art history.

Destructive influences

Unlike positive critique, negative judgment can do a lot of harm to artists, and we have to ask ourselves, why some critics/historians and unfortunately also fellow artists indulge in it. The obvious answer is: competition. Trendy art critics jealously defend the champions of the current fashion, and many artists can’t see beyond their own perception, regardless of the true nature of art, which is to reflect, demonstrate and celebrate our cultural and individual differences.

What’s new?

Some artists develop their ideas and techniques together, communicating about their explorations and discoveries, and there are always some who go their own way in solitude. But however they go about it, it usually takes them a few years to develop their work. Yet the public is demanding a brand-new experience every time they go to an exhibition opening. Fair enough, but instead of expecting something new at first sight, we should look deeper, ask more questions, and take an interest in the development of the artists working in our community. This would encourage artistic growth, progress of thought and technique for the artists, and better information and appreciation of art for the public.

Judith Kunzle

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Cook Islands Dance

vbond — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:03:01 +0000

PLEASE CLICK HERE for Cook Islands Dance Limited Edition Prints

PLEASE CLICK HERE for Cook Islands Dance Original Paintings and Drawings

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