About

By day I’m a librarian – I manage seven libraries, a museum, AA and isite, Arts Coordinator and Council’s Emergency Management. It’s a busy role and I love it; we make a difference in our communities and that’s pretty amazing.

Outside of work I’m an artist specialising in mixed media and print making, particularly using a gel plate. I have an Advanced Diploma in Arts & Creativity (Honours) from The Learning Connection and, in the 20 or so years since completing it, I have continued to focus on developing my skills.

In 2010 I travelled to Italy as one of 40 New Zealand artists with works in the Legato exhibition in Cassino, Italy. I took four works over celebrating four men including my father, Patea grocer Mansel Barker, otherwise known as Able Seaman Barker.

The trip had a profound impact on me, and on my art. I have continued to paint the Italian landscape, and works which depict in some way the lives that were touched by WWII. Two of the works which went to Italy have been exhibited here in NZ as well, and newer Italian works have been exhibited in Wellington. In 2016, by invitation of the curator, I exhibited works in Italy for the Legato exhibition which coincided with 70th commemorations.

I work in acrylics, mixed media and art journals; increasingly my art isn’t about creating something pretty – it’s an opportunity to tell stories or bring old memories to the surface. I create mixed media works to bring shed light on, and bring a lightness to, topics such as war, sexual abuse, mental health, addiction, chronic illness and infertility.

Some work is about memories of the New Zealand landscape, particularly the South Island, whose glacial waters inspire me. Often symbols appear, such as a mast-like shape, that have no obvious meaning to me until I’ve completed multiple works.