This week the Chronicle caught up with Hayley Hamilton.
Describe your practice?
I work in a home based studio with 2 other people: my friend Karla and husband Craig. Together we formed a partnership called The Monster Company so we could work in a shared space bringing together ideas that can ultimately pay our bills, feed our families and let us be as creative as we can be. We supply about 30 galleries around NZ.
What new creations are you working on at the moment?
The Moppets! These are our latest endeavor. Marionettes made from wood and clay. Craig is working on some recycled retro style tables. There are always lots of projects bubbling away in the background.
Are you from an artistic family?
My father is a very creative thinker. I think I am like him.
When did you decide to pursue a creative career?
I was a very awkward child and art was the only thing I was good at. I won a sports day programme cover competition at school when I was 7 so it was settled. I would be an artist when I was a grown up.
The best piece of advice you ever got?
Spend more than you can afford on shoes and sheets as you are either standing up or laying down.
Best and worst thing about being an artist?
Best thing is it doesn’t feel like a real job most of the time. I feel like I am doing what I am meant to be doing.
Worst thing is having to reproduce work over and over and never having enough time to turn ideas into realities.
If money were no object what frivolous non essential would you buy for yourself?
I would buy a lifetime of travel for my family and I would travel the world forever, but keep coming back to NZ in between as it is the best country in the world!
Who was your favorite teacher growing up and why?
Mr Porter was my art teacher. I attended a small girls school in England and I was his only student who wanted to study sculpture. We built a huge brick kiln together. He truly inspired me and encouraged me to apply to St Martins School of Art in London. I would never have done that if he hadn’t believed in me.
Ultimate four dinner party guests, dead or alive?
Nelson Mandela, Jack White, Eddie Izzard, Sister Loyola Galvin and can I have Ryan Gosling as the waiter? Please…go on…please?
Your best traveling experience?
Taking our children on an adventure to Europe, before the teenage years began.
Where can we see your work?
At Jet in Raglan and left in Cambridge. These are collectives that we are part of.
