sightlines podcast
Your monthly guide to the visual arts in Dunedin and beyond. Join presenter Sally McMillan in conversation with art creators, collectors, conservators, and curators.
Proudly brought to you by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society. Broadcast on Otago Access Radio 105.4FM first Thursday of each month, at 1pm, starting 3rd March 2022.
Episode 30: Violet Faigan
Violet Faigan
Aired 07-12-2023
Episode 29: ALYSHA BAILEY: In MY MOTHER’S GARDEN
Alysha Bailey talked about her latest work.
Aired 02-11-2023
Episode 28: Anita de soto: Into the Light
Dunedin artist and School of Art teacher Anita de Soto talks about her unashamed celebration of real femininity. Anita looks back at work from her 2018 William Hodges Fellowship, in which she brought colonial women out of their historical anonymity and into the foreground. She also discusses more recent work in which she challenges the misogyny of classic Baroque paintings through playful painting techniques, and bold use of colour.
Aired 05-10-2023
Episode 27: Victoria McIntosh: The Power of Pudding
Victoria discusses the origins of her witty, provocative and highly original creative practice. Find out why being forced to attend ballet classes as a child has resulted in the making of exquisite pudding sculptures out of recycled vintage shapewear.
Aired 07-09-2023
Episode 26: Otago Art Society, Past and Present
Otago Art Society past presidents Doug Hart adn Janny Longstaff discuss the illustrious 147-year history of the OAS, and the impressive programme of exhibitions they currently manage each year. Hear how the Society has gradually evolved into the lively and inclusive organisation it is today.
Aired 03-08-2023
Episode 25: Night VISION WITH STEEV PEYROUX
Dunedin artist and educator Steev Peyroux talks to Sally about his career transition from full-time dancer to artist and art teacher, and how some of the skills he learned as a dancer turned out to be surprisingly transferrable. Steev is a proud exponent of the value and uniqueness of Otago Polytechnic Te Pukenga School of Art night classes, which he has taught for many years.
Aired 06-07-2023
Episode 24: JEFFREY HARRIS: LANDSCAPE, PEOPLE, EMOTION
Acclaimed Dunedin painter Jeffrey Harris talks to Sally about becoming an artist in the face of his father's staunch disapproval, and how his grandparents and a generous art teacher helped. Harris dislikes anything transitory, and although not religious himself, longs to recover the intensity of early religious art. Hear how he draws inspiration from local landscapes while placing people and emotion at the heart of his practice.
Aired 01-06-2023
Episode 23: Under Review with James Dignan
ODT art reviewer James Dignan talks to Sally about the important distinction between reviewing and criticising. How does an honest reviewer avoid discouraging artists? How to write accessibly about difficult art? And how can a reviewer encourage reluctant viewers across gallery thresholds? Join us and find out.
Aired 04-05-2023
Episode 22: CLive Humphreys - Between showers
Clive Humphreys is a painter, printmaker, and former head of the Dunedin School of Art. In today’s episode, he talks to Sally about his development as an artist, how he balanced the demands of academic life with a thriving artistic practice, and the interesting effects of retiring from teaching to become a full-time artist in the idyllic surrounds of Waiheke Island.
Aired 06-04-2023
Episode 21: Tuhura Sculpture Invitational
Ross talks to Vanessa Cook from Milford Gallery about the stunning Tuhura Sculpture Invitational: a rare and spectacular showcase featuring some of NZ's foremost sculptors. What makes sculpture such a distinctive art form? What is the best way to look at a sculpture? How have the featured artists reimagined their materials? Join Ross and Vanessa for a great discussion.
Aired 02-03-2023
Episode 20: Getting Naked with John Z Robinson
Dunedin jeweller and painter John Z. Robinson talks about his childhood love of colour, early artistic influnces including Robin White, and the evolution of his long-standing practice of drawing from nude models.
Aired 02-02-2023
Episode 19: The Role of Technology in Art
DPAG Society President Ross Currie talks to two local artists with diametrically opposing views on the role of technology in art. Goldsmith Tony Williams is committed to traditional methods of handmaking jewellery. Photographer Jennifer Belt has embraced photoshop as a means of achieving her creative vision. This is an ongoing debate in the art world. Where do you stand?
Aired 02-12-2022
Episode 18: SITE Specific - Ben Fitzgerald & Esmond Paterson
Ahead of the 2022 SITE exhibition, two promising young graduates of the Dunedin School of Art reflect on their time at art school. Ben Fitzgerald and Esmond Paterson discuss aspects of their current creative practice, ranging from the challenges of integrating text into visual art forms, to the exploration of hypermasculine symbolism in contemporary gay subculture.
Aired 03-11-2022
Episode 17: Sorawit Songsataya
Join Sally and our 2022 Frances Hodgkins Fellow, Sorawit Songsataya, as they discuss Sorawit's latest projects, what it's like to move between two very different artistic cultures, and Sorawit's creative evolution from painter to multi-media artist
Aired 06-10-2022
Episode 16: 100 years of Art
A celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society! Sally explores the nineteenth-century origins of the Gallery and Society, key founding figures, and major milestones, interspersed with historical extracts from the letters page of the ODT voicing a colourful array of opinions on the state of art in Dunedin.
Aired 01-09-2022
Episode 15: Body and Soul
The Dunedin Hospital art collection may be one of the most-viewed collections in the city, but have you ever wondered how extensive it is, or how it started? Join two prominent members of the Dunedin Hospital Art Advisory Committee, Barbara Brinsley and Nicola McClymont, as they discuss the past, present, and future of this amazing collection.
Aired 04-08-2022
Episode 14: How to collect Art Part 3
Local collectors Ross Grimmett and David Bell discuss the delights and pitfalls of collecting, the role their collections have played in their lives, and how collecting art has influenced their thinking.
Aired 07-07-2022
Episode 13: Photography in Focus
Dunedin-based photographers Murray Eskdale and Rachel Hope Allan discuss how they use photographic technologies, the lengths they will go to to get the right shot, and what inspires them, from the contours of urban architecture to the grit and beauty of Japanese landscape and culture.
Aired 02-06-2022
Episode 12: A Distinctive Visual Language
Esteemed NZ painter and printmaker Nigel Brown traces the development of his practice from a shaky start at art school, through the influence of his work life, creative collaborations with writers, and a lifelong commitment to growth through experimentation.
Aired 05-05-2022
Episode 11: Art of Returning Home
Expatriate Kiwi artists Craig Easton and Pete Wheeler discuss the challenges and rewards of establishing a thriving art career overseas in Australia, Germany, and China, and what it's been like to return home.
Aired 07-04-2022
Episode 10: How To Collect Art Part 2
Local art lovers Jules Gross and Jules Radich talk about what inspired them to start collecting, what guides them when they buy art, and how their collections have evolved over time.
Aired 03-03-2022
Episode 9: How To Collect Art Part 1
If you've ever wanted to collect art, but don't know where to begin, we may be able to help! Hilary Radner (RDS Gallery) and Liz Fraser (Gallery De Novo) talk about their personal journeys to becoming gallery directors, and offer valuable insights on how to build your own art collection.
Aired 24-01-2022
Episode 8: Tauraka Toi, A Landing Place
DPAG Director Cam McCracken and Vicki Lenihan from the Ngai Tahu Paemanu artists' collective discuss the challenges and rewards of their successful ongoing collaboration on a stunning series of exhibitions showcasing contemporary Maori art.
Aired 27-12-2021
Episode 7: The Natural History of Jane Dodd
Jane Dodd talks about her artistic training, the evolution of her career, and her predominant creative themes, including a longstanding fascination with the relative places of humans and animals in the natural world.
Aired 22-11-2021
Episode 6: creative futures
This week, we focus on the Otago Polytechnic School of Art, and two recent graduates, Nona Shackelton and Kaye de la Cruz. What are their plans and career aspirations? What is the state of the current market? And what does a creative future in contemporary NZ look like?
Aired 25-10-2021
Episode 5: In Celebration of Ceramics
In honour of the Diamond Jubilee exhibition of NZ Potters at the Otago Art Society, Ross interviews Moyra Elliott, doyenne of NZ ceramics, for a brief but fascinating history of the evolution of pottery in this country.
Aired 27-09-2021
Episode 4: Small Town, Big Art
Sally hears from Director Jim Geddes about the origins and growth of Gore's Eastern Southland Art Gallery, including the remarkable story of how Jim acquired the John Money collection, which forms the core of the Gallery's holdings
Aired 26-07-2021
Episode 3: Fashion forwARD
A lively discussion of the interface between art, fashion, and design with Craig Scott, Head of Exhibitions and Creative Services at Otago Museum , and Dr Margo Barton, Professor and Academic Leader for Fashion at Otago Polytechnic.
Aired 28-06-2021
Episode 2: Fashion forwARD
A lively discussion of the interface between art, fashion, and design with Craig Scott, Head of Exhibitions and Creative Services at Otago Museum , and Dr Margo Barton, Professor and Academic Leader for Fashion at Otago Polytechnic.
Aired 24-05-2021
Episode 1: Public Art in Dunedin
A spirited discussion of public art in Dunedin with DCC arts advisor Lisa Wilkie, and public artists Katrina Thomson, Ross Sinclair, and Ayesha Green
Aired 26-04-2022