SARAH Maxey is prickly.
City Gallery’s press release calls Maxey a type designer which infuriates her. And don’t ask her about Kiwi poet Vincent O’Sullivan, even though her latest work at City Gallery’s Hirschfeld Gallery is part of a group exhibition whose title is pulled from the title of one of his books.
“Who said I was a type designer,” she says, seething. “I am a graphic designer.” Maxey’s day job (Sarah Maxey Design) involves designing book covers, stationery and business cards, amongst other things – not designing typeface (an alphabet of letters).
Visibly annoyed and shifting in her seat, Maxey seems to be on the verge of walking out of the interview at questions relating to New Zealand poet Vincent O’Sullivan, whose book, a collection of poetry called Further Convictions Pending, was designed by Maxey.
“The only thing [Maxey’s exhibition] has in common [with O’Sullivan] are those three words but this work has been done especially for the show,” she says slowly and quietly, as if to control rage bubbling inside her.
So we talk about the work, three words she envisioned tumbling down the walls in a ribbon-like fashion.
She wrote them out hundreds of times over before settling on the exhibited result, which she redrew about four times, scanned through a computer and blew up from A3 and converted to vinyl. It is now stuck to the wall of the Hirschfeld.
“It’s like a huge hand has drawn it with a fountain pen.”
Maxey is happy to talk about her beautiful penmanship, which she attributes to “working on my handwriting since I was five”.
The Northland resident learnt to write with fountain pens and a pot of ink in the early 70s. She moved to Wellington from Nelson in 1986 to study design, and went on to exhibit works in galleries.
Next month she will return to Bowen Galleries for a new exhibition entitled Fuckwits.
Maxey ’s Further Convictions Pending work shares the Hirschfeld space with three recent graduates; painters Tim Thatcher and Douglas Stichbury, and photographer Andrew Beck.
“I feel a little flattered to be in such young company,” says Maxey, smiling.
Further Convictions Pending – Sarah Maxey, Tim Thatcher, Andrew Beck, Douglas Stitchbury, Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery, to May 2.