Faith Thomas’ sculptured masks.
The Passion for Art trail, part of the Cambridge Autumn Festival, shone a spotlight on the town’s rich arts culture.
Among them were painters, sculptors, ceramicists, portrait artists and printmakers, all throwing open their studios to the public.
Cambridge’s Faith Thomas with some of the extremely detailed printmaking work she had on display at last weekend’s Passion for Art trail. Photo: Viv Posselt
One was Faith Thomas, a specialised printmaker whose 47-year career has spanned exhibitions in New Zealand and abroad, taking in Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, Britain and the United States. She has also participated in global exchanges and collaborative projects.
Thomas works out of Paperartzi Studio in Leamington, the light-filled end of a former stable block that abuts her beautiful old villa, one of Leamington’s originals. When not creating magic in there, she is teaching students at St Peter’s School outside Cambridge. She has also taught at the Hamilton-based Waikato Society of Arts and is a longtime member of Pcanz – the Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand.
Creating crocheted or knitted hanging garden sculptures is a breakaway activity for world-renown printmaker Faith Thomas. Photo: Viv Posselt
After completing her fine arts degree at Elam School of Fine Arts, majoring in printmaking, in 1982, Thomas moved to Cambridge in 1994. Among the projects she took on was the creation of a shade sail made from tomato twine at Hamilton Lake, time spent volunteer guiding at the Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park, and a collection of Christmas trees at the Meteor Theatre.
A similar bold style is visible through her current crochet and knitting pieces, colourful hanging pod garden sculptures. She also has a collection of masks, and has produced a book featuring 100 drawings inside a kimono-shaped outline.
“I loved printmaking from the start… it’s quite close to drawing,” she told The News. “I work with the intaglio techniques of etching and mezzotint, and relief printmaking in lino often on harakeke, flax papers. I’m a great advocate of drawing, often incorporating graphite into artworks. I also work in sculpture, most often taking part in collaborative works.”
Her work is seen at some of the world’s most prestigious printmakers’ exhibitions and festivals, including the Venice Biennale, International Mezzotint festivals and exchanges, the Douro Biennial in Portugal, and the New York Artists Sketchbook project.
Some of the pieces can take months to create. Mezzotint is a highly specialised field of printmaking … not many printmakers tackle it. The technique is extremely difficult and time- consuming, demanding exceptional levels of patience and attention to detail.
Faith Thomas’ sculptured masks. Photo: Viv Posselt
