Gareth Barlow

Family ties to Nga Puhi and Ngati Toa

Gareth was born at Lower Hutt in 1971 and presently lives in Australia. His practice centres on small carved sculpture and adornment, in bone, ivory and antler as well as indigenous stone such as pakohe, onewa and pounamu.

Gareth says “My passion for my art is driven by my pride in being a New Zealander”. His early capacity for illustration, and close family ties to Nga Puhi and Ngati Toarangatira,  lead to an interest in Maori art during his school years. This stayed with him on his journey beginning in the printing industry with commercial art and graphic design, taking him into the advertising world where he remains as an art director.

After some foreign travel he settled in Sydney at the end of 2000, which re-ignited his love affair for illustration and Maori art. “I wanted to pursue an art form which filled my passion for New Zealand history and culture. It was about then that I discovered bone carving.” He says he stumbled in his early years, having few local references to draw on, but it was interest in his carving and designs by Australians that made it “an absolute obsession”.

An early New Zealand mentor was Norman Clark, but it wasn’t until he returned to New Zealand with his young family in 2008 that his bone carving career began to flourish, with his work acquired by major public collections in Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington.

It was at this time he began stone carving, finding a general but inspiring influence in the practice of Paki Harrison, Lewis Gardiner and Lyonel Grant.

“Owen Mapp and Rangi Kipa – whose techniques can be regarded as second to none – and the vision of Chris Bailey and Gordon Hatfield have all played a part in the path I have chosen for my carving journey.” This took him back to Sydney in late 2011 and he finds that being surrounded by Australians only accentuates his pride in being a New Zealander and his passion for making art. “My vision is simple, to create the finest work I can that reflects my philosophies and honours my country’s heritage.”