Mary-Beth Acres (New Zealand) Residence: March 2017
Mary-Beth Acres is an emerging artist from Rotorua, Aotearoa New Zealand practicing in the written word, drawing, watercolour, and illustration. Her other interests include photography, nature and wildlife, cats, singing, hula hooping and fire performance. She owns a small company manufacturing and selling hula hoops and other circus equipment. She also teaches classes in hula hoop dance and does fire performances with a fire hula hoop and fire poi.
After studying Politics, Media and Communication at the University of Waikato she now works running a small non-profit organisation called The Arts Village which combines her love of community with her belief in the power of art and creativity.
She is currently on a six month period of sabbatical leave carrying out a project called “Art and Sunshine”, where she will spend time in Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and United States researching the ways that art in communities makes people happier.
Her residency project at Studio Kura, titled ‘Dust’, is a small series of colourfully illustrated works paired with written word, all examining the whimsical side of everyday life.
