The Learning Connexion tutor and artist in residence Robert Franken is leaving New Zealand for a three week artist residence in Xiamen, Wellington’s sister city in China.

Six artists (John Walsh, Robert Franken, Leah Sheppard, Ping Ching Mabbett, Peter Coates and Janet Andrews) have been selected to participate and are all expected to create and show work, and do a short talk while there.

TLC stopped by Robert’s studio to have a quick chat with him before he left. He showed us around his space which is filled with paintings by his family and fabulous objects he has collected in his travels. Robert is a sixth generation artist so he is surrounded by works by his forebears which provide inspiration to his practice.

Robert is primarily a painter but also works on glass engravings which mirror the marks he uses on his canvas. You can view his work on his website at www.robertfranken.co.nz.

He describes his work as dealing with the space between - “When one looks on a sunny day on the surface of the water, one can see suggested characters. I took the numbers 1 till 10 and threw them on that surface . I don’t want my works to be read , but yet the characters suggest a language. The effect is that it can travel between the floor boards of cultures. It gives the works a sense of motion and timelessness.”

Robert explained that he had three possible plans for his process in China: Plan 1 is to take paints and a canvas, plan 2 is to take engraving equipment and find glass or a mirror over there, and plan 3 is to take nothing and scrounge around in markets for materials when he arrives.

You can follow Robert’s progress as he works in Xiamen - he is keeping a blog at - www.robertsjourneys.blogspot.com