When I was younger, living in Belfast, I used to go trawling secondhand shops. I couldn’t afford much, maybe the odd exhibition poster, but I remember buying a Paul Klee print when I was about 21, which I thought was very sophisticated at the time. Since then, as I’ve grown, matured, and my budget has increased, my taste has definitely evolved.
I buy a lot of things at auction – working at Webb’s, you get phenomenal exposure to beautiful things; it allows you to buy some of these pieces and become more knowledgeable and in tune with design. I also keep an eye on other auction houses, Trade Me and Marketplace, and if I’m overseas, I’ll visit galleries and museums, exploring the design, art and cars. I think that if you spend money on meaningful things, it brightens your home and helps to support some amazing makers and designers – little ways to make the everyday beautiful.
I don’t tend to have things that are similar to my friends. In art, I’m drawn to modernist pieces, but my furniture taste is perhaps more mid-century with an American and European skew; design-led and considered pieces with that je ne sais quoi. And while I’ll usually do my research before buying a piece, sometimes it’s a gut reaction when you have to have it – like the blue jug.
I was at the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) for the Melbourne Now exhibition a few weeks ago. It was filled with amazing design, art and craft from Melbourne-based makers. One area was dedicated to vases and sculptures, and I saw a blue velvet amphora vase by New Zealander Caro Pattle that blew me away. I just wanted to touch and hold it – which, of course, you’re not allowed to do in a gallery. It looked so sumptuous as the light glistened on the blue velvet. When I got to the end of the exhibition, they had one of her works for sale in the gift shop, and I knew that if I didn’t buy it then and there, I would forever regret it. It now takes pride of place in my room – where I do let people touch it.
I’m being more selective with my purchases these days, rearranging things instead of just buying another chair or another lamp. It helps keep the home from feeling stale. Selwyn Muru (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri) actually lived here with his family for about 23 years before I moved in. He’s an artist/musician/actor/broadcaster/lecturer, and his old studio is still out the back, splattered with paint. As a politically staunch man, he channelled his anti-apartheid views into his work and the photo shows him standing in front of one of those paintings, looking fantastic in his 80s shades. So I have it here in tribute.
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