Kuaotunu resident Colin Verner has always enjoyed art and
creativity. Although he never formally studied art in his younger years, it has
been a hobby since childhood. In his 20s he took the plunge and went to study
at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in Auckland and graduated with
honours in 1996. He then received a graduate assistantship to live, work and
study towards a masters degree at Montclair State University in Upper
Montclair, New Jersey, USA. After graduating he worked for an art consultant in
NYC for about two years and then decided to travel more. He spent four years
teaching English based in South Korea, where he also expanded his artistic
abilities with a studio there. He regularly exhibited alongside Korean artists
and won the Hanam city arts festival award in the sculpture category in 2003.
When he decided it was time to settle down, his journey
eventually brought him home to the Coromandel. As a lover of the outdoors and
marine activities, the Coromandel is the perfect home for him and his family.
“We live close to nature on the Coromandel” says Colin. “I get to pursue my
passion and love for art, but we also get to enjoy nature and the ocean. Since
settling here, I’ve found myself becoming more and more inclined to create
artworks provoked by the environment. My work is full of the texture and
patterns of the environments I inhabit and explore. In particular the dynamism
of the sea and the sky has become a source of inspiration for me. However, I
don’t want to depict what we can already clearly see. For me art is an
exploration of consciousness. My aim is to draw something of nature out from
within myself. I create drawings and mixed media artworks that explore the
melding of external phenomenon with the internal processes that function to
make us conscious”.
Colin draws and sculpts. His drawings often evolve into what
he calls “sculptural collage”, a mixed media technique he has been developing
for some time now. He also carves and
constructs sculptures with wood and sometimes combines these creations
with other materials. He has also continued with his teaching and
regularly travels to Hunan University in China to deliver professional practise
and critical studies courses for NMIT.
His studio in Kuaotunu is open by appointment, and during
the summer months it is open to visitors most weekends and some weekdays if his banner is out on
SH25.
Exhibitions
2020
Group shows:
10 Artists, Kuaotunu January 2025
10 Artists, Kuaotunu January 2023
Mercury Bay Art Escape , Hotwaves gallery, March 2023
10 Artists, Kuaotunu January 2022
10 Artists, Kuaotunu, January 2020
Mercury Bay Art Escape , Hotwaves gallery, March 2019
10 Artists, Kuaotunu, February 2019
David LLyod Gallery, past exhibitors, Hamilton, 2018
Mercury Bay Art Escape, Hotwaves gallery, March 2018
10 artists, Kuaotunu ,February 2018
Mercury Bay Art Escape, Hotwaves gallery, March 2017
10 Artists, Kuaotunu, February 2017
Mercury Bay Art Escape, Hotwaves gallery, March 2016
Hanam City Arts Festival, Hanam City Hall Gallery , South Korea, 2003
Group 46, Chong Dam art gallery, Seoul, South Korea, 2003
Group 46, Namyangju city hall, South Korea, 2002
Namyangju Arts Annual, Gallery liz, South Korea, 2001
St John's art annual, Newark NJ, USA. 2000
Novo artists group installation HLW New YorkCity, USA, 2000
St Johns art annual Newark, NJ,USA, 1999
Gallery 1, Montclair State University, graduate sculpture exhibition, New Jersey,
USA. 1998
Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland , Graduate exhibition, 1996
Telecom Art Awards, Auckland, 1994
Telecom Art Awards, finalist, 1993
