Decoy Subjects
Saskia Leek quickly gained recognition for her comic- and kitsch-inspired paintings in the years after graduating from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 1992. Her career seems not to have waxed and waned but instead to have been a steady, incremental unfolding of a personal sensibility from faux-naive figuration to loosely cubist and abstract studies of heightened colour. She was part of Lara Strongman’s landmark Hangover exhibition in 1995–96, a finalist in the 2010 Walters Prize for a series of paintings exhibited under the title Yellow is the Putty of the World and, in 2013, had a survey show, Desk Collection, of more than 50 paintings. Leek’s partner, the artist Nick Austin, was awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship for 2012, so they moved from Auckland to Dunedin for the year and stayed on afterwards.
Edward Hanfling, also an Auckland escapee, visited Leek at her Dowling Street studio, where they discussed the benefits of living in Dunedin.
Saskia Leek: It was just too easy to stay here. In Auckland, we were two artists living in a one-bedroom apartment with our daughter. She was almost two when we came down here, so we were going to have to move out of that apartment and get somewhere with two bedrooms. Of course, there is a lot that I still miss about a slightly larger city. But the longer we stayed in Dunedin, the more we became used to a certain way of working and living. It’s obviously a lot more time-spacious here, and I don’t have to work as much at other things to survive. I’m more of a nine-to-five artist these days, cultivating this indulgent art practice!
Edward Hanfling: Do you think it makes a difference where you live? Does it change how you work?
S.L.: Absolutely. In terms of my mental health it’s good being here. There’s so much less pressure not thinking about where I fit in the art world, or what be doing, or what’s cool and what’s not. At this stage of where I’m at, that’s useful for me.
