Dion Hitchens

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What inspires your art practice?
My work engages both my cultural and philosophical values, allowing audiences access to stories and philosophies that help inspire authentic relationships to our environment, to one another and to our organisations. I am most interested in the ‘unseen’ values, experiences and philosophies that inform our relationships to the natural world. How can the values from the past inform our actions for the future? My work explores the connection between all things (Whakapapa). I am T?hoe, Ng?ti Porou, (NZ Maori), Chinese, English and Scottish. I like my art to add value to the world. A global citizen with a tribal view.

What materials do you work in?
Re-used aluminium supplied by Metal Designs 2016 Ltd. Automotive Paints.

Briefly describe your artwork for NZ Sculpture OnShore 2018.
1.Winter will always turn to spring. Change is inevitable.
2.All people have the right to flower, to reveal their true potential as human beings.
3.Respect that everyone is different. Modern day Buddhist Scholar Daisaku Ikeda writes:
Cherry Plum Peach and Damson, is the name of a Buddhist study which has three main points:

Where are the public most likely to see your artworks outside of NZ Sculpture OnShore?
My work is in major collections including Auckland City Art Gallery, Waikato and Te Papa Tongarewa Museums. I also have civic scaled public art in the Auckland Council and Hamilton City Council collections. I produced a touch stone for Fonterra to help align the company values to cultural stories.

Where are the public most likely to see your artworks outside of NZ Sculpture OnShore?
Elam, Auckland University

www.dionhitchens.com