Jack | Onehunga, Auckland

“I guess, regret is like having chosen to focus on working on projects or study and then having your family members grow and/or pass away.

I think that’s something that I regret. It was about two years ago, and I was doing an art residency in Dunedin, and my grandmother Jenny, who I really loved, and actually she raised me for a period of time, and she was very old. I remember her asking me whether I would stay for a longer time in Dunedin, and at that point not kind of realising that this was one of the last times that I would actually see her. I think I regret that because I know that if I had spent more time, or just committed to the idea of being a family member to someone who actually reached out, then I perhaps would have had a smoother ride through the end of that journey and I think I definitely regret that. I guess it’s about the balance between trying to make things happen, and be a parent and be an artist, and also trying to be a family member, and I think that balance is something that certainly feels like it’s imbued with a sense of regret. I think it’s really about cherishing the idea that everything is definitely moving very fast, and if you don’t follow your instincts and you keep going on with this idea that you’re trying to chase something, rather than just embracing every second with your family, then those moments definitely pass you by. I think that comes with a heavy weight, and I think really what I’ve learned is to try and value just having connections with your friends and family because the sense that they’re definitely not going to be there forever, it would be better to have memories than to miss them trying to chase something like money or a job.

I was born in the South Island, and I lived there for most of my childhood. I also spent quite a number of years living in England, and being a teenager in England. Coming back to New Zealand after that, I began studying art at Otago Polytechnic. After doing undergraduate study, I moved to Auckland and finished doing postgraduate study at Auckland University, and since then, I’ve worked in various community centres and libraries, as a tutor of ceramics. My main passion in life is making ceramic art and I spend quite a lot of time working with clay and building kilns and creating artworks that connect me with my landscape.”