17 May 2012

Art out for Christmas

16/11/2011 10:32:00 a.m.

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THERE’S a lot of art at Kim Young’s place, particularly around Christmas. When she’s not working at the Wellington Museum of City and Sea, Young can often be found at her favourite local galleries with daughters Coco and Pippi. Now the festive season’s heating up, there’ll soon be the traditional exchange of art within Young’s household.
“My partner Duncan Sargent is an artist and furniture designer and we often buy art for each other. We also buy a lot of art for the girls,” she explains, “I like art that has humour and beauty in it, art that’s eye-catching and striking.”
Young, who thinks art needs to tell a story, has been given many special pieces over the years, so she’s become a bit of an expert in the art-giving tradition.
“My partner made me a necklace that I wear every day. I’ve also been given some early New Zealand woodcuts, abstracts, sculpture and ceramics,” she says, adding that she’d recommend all those options to people on the lookout for special presents.
“I always try and think not of what someone already likes but what they may like, what they could like,” she says, “If you try and combine the person’s interests and think very laterally when buying art for people you sometimes find great success.”
An arty present-buying scheme she dreamt up turned out well one year. Young took her daughters around a selection of galleries and together they chose one piece of artwork at each. The next step was to send Duncan in for the final decision. At each gallery he was shown the art that had been picked out, then he decided on a single piece as his gift.
“It’s a nice way to do it if you’re not sure which one the person would like best,” says Young, “Duncan chose a work we all liked and we hung it up. We move all our artwork around, we’ve got various walls crammed with art.”
She doesn’t have anything on her Christmas wish list just yet, though that could change in the next few weeks.
“I was just given an amazing ceramic piece for my birthday so I’m very happy,” she laughs, “I’ve bought my partner a Christmas present from a Wellington based artist. I like buying from local artists… but I can’t tell you what it is.”
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

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