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An artist’s path to nding her voice
Rebekah Farr’s connections with Aratoi include being selected for several Wairarapa Art Reviews, winning the highly commended prize in 2015 with her painting Drift, and having two solo exhibitions, Drift in 2016 and Departures in 20182019.
Farr’s art journey has not always been smooth. A student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the 1990s, she thought her career lay in costume design but after graduating she realised this was not for her and took a diff erent path, working in a fashion bureau.
This was also not where her interests lay. At the bureau she became interested in the emerging fi eld of illustration software. The software developers were impressed with her work and after working for them, she decided to do a post-graduate diploma in animation and interactive media.
This led to the cocreation of Nectarine who work in graphic design, code and animation and are now based in Wairarapa.
‘I have a great working knowledge of everything digital and everything print,” said Farr.
“That learning has helped my art but of course commercial work involves a client, and I was so reliant on the idea
Rebekah Farr’s self-portrait which won the Portrait Prize at Aratoi’s 2019 Wairarapa Art Review. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
of a client that at fi rst I would even invent one. This had an eff ect on my art in terms of integrity. In the commercial world you forgo what is essentially you; you cannot be swayed by your own preferences. In eff ect, you shelve part of you. “
Farr says it was frightening yet exciting to contemplate whether art is a product to sell or not. Struggling to fi nd her voice and learning not to care if someone liked or wanted her art, she stopped showing for about a year.
“Then when I was in my early 40s my best friend, whom I’d had since the age of 13, died in an accident. A lot of her artist friends came together to form an exhibition in memory of her and they invited me to take part. This was a devastating time for me but there was a bizarre silver lining as I realised that I needed to follow my heart not my head to create my art.
“Without sensationalising, I like to paint struggle,” Farr said. Her latest exhibition, Rogue and Vagabond held at Schmid Gallery in Martinborough, recreated police mug shots of women prisoners from early last century, revealing their vulnerability. Departures showed the faces of refugees, their eyes refl ecting hurt and desperation.
• You can see images of Farr’s work on her website (rebekahfarr. co.nz/) or on
Instagram (rebekah_ farr_sketchbook).
Her painting, Last
Minute Nerves, from the Drift exhibition was acquired by Aratoi for the collection.
It is on display at
Aratoi’s exhibition Ngā
Haerenga/ Journeys –
Celebrating Matariki.
INTERNATIONALLY SPEAKING Speaker to cover the topic of security
Andrew Hampton, Director General of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), is speaking to the Institute of International Aff airs (Wairarapa branch) May meeting in Masterton on Thursday, May 19.
His very topical topic: ‘The cybersecurity implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine’.
“There has been,” Andrew Hampton said, “an unprecedented release of declassifi ed intelligence in countering the Russia information war, as well as the Russian malicious cyber activity that has been observed in the lead-up and during the invasion.”
As he said, Aotearoa New Zealand’s cyber security landscape is continuously evolving, notwithstanding the heightened vigilance as a result of February’s illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The GCSB’s three key functions are collecting and assessing foreign intelligence in accordance with Government’s intelligence priorities; providing cyber security and information assurance services for nationally signifi cant organisations; and assisting NZ Defence Force, NZ Police and NZ Security Intelligence Service to undertake their lawful functions, including counter-terrorism and support to military operations.
“The role, function and capability of the Government’s signals intelligence agency is often regarded to be shrouded in secrecy, but a surprising amount can be talked about,” he said. “The GCSB exists to protect New Zealand as a free, open and democratic society.”
Hampton’s talk will also explore cyber security in Aotearoa New Zealand beyond the Russia-Ukraine confl ict, including the type and scale of cyber threats on our organisations of national signifi cance.
Before joining the GCSB, Hampton spent much of his career in the Justice sector, including Treaty settlement negotiations and courts administration. He was Director of the Offi ce of Treaty Settlements, Deputy Secretary for Courts, and Deputy Chief Executive at the Crown Law Offi ce.
The meeting will be at Rosewood, 417 Queen St, Masterton at 8pm on Thursday, May 19. Tea and coff ee from 7.30pm. All are welcome. Non-members: $5 door charge. For more information contact secretary Aileen Weston, phone: (06) 372 5741, email: aileen.weston@ orcon.net.nz
Andrew Hampton. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
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