Peak performance

A 12-year-old from Tauranga is scaling new heights on the big screen,
starring in local dramedy The Mountain.

interview Hayley Barnett

Playing the role of Bronco in the new Kiwi film The Mountain, 12-year-old Terence Daniel (Ngāti Kahungunu, Raukawa ki Wharepūhunga, Kuki Airani – Aitutaki) never imagined he’d end up on the big screen. But he’s fully embracing his newfound talent.

The Tauranga local and pupil at Te Pūwhāriki-Maungatapu School is hoping this will be his stepping stone to swapping the school stage for the bright lights of Hollywood. The Mountain is Kiwi actress Rachel House’s directorial debut. Released in March 2024, the film is a heartfelt dramedy about three children on a mission to find healing under the watchful eye of Taranaki Maunga, and discover friendship in the spirit of adventure. Here UNO asks Terence a few questions about his foray into film.

UNO: How did you get into acting?
Terence: This is my first acting role! My nan found it on Facebook and she told my mum. My mum asked me, and I said, ‘Sure, I’ll give it a go!’ After my first audition, I got a call back from Rachel (House) who rang me on Zoom and told me I’d got the part. I was stunned. It didn’t really sink in until I saw my mum was really happy. Then I ran to tell my neighbours and my nan. My nan was proud as. I had always thought I wanted to play rugby or be a mechanic, but now I think I could actually do acting as a job.

UNO: What was it like to act in such a large production?
Terence: It was so much different to what I thought it would be like. I do Kapa Haka as part of Te Pūwhariki but that’s in front of a live audience. This had heaps more people. We had a great crew helping us, including the awesome Carrie Green, our acting coach. They all really supported us kids.

UNO: What was the highlight?
Terence: Being a part of the whole crew and production. That, and getting to be up on the maunga and waking up to the incredible view.

UNO: What do you love about acting?
Terence: It’s really easy, but also really hard at the same time. Performing on camera
is heaps different to Kapa Haka, but I’m used to acting on stage so that definitely helped.

UNO: What and/or who inspires you?
Terence: Our Māori chiefs and our ancestors really inspire me. We have so many amazing stories and I love hearing them.

UNO: What is your favourite movie and why?
Terence: This movie. And why? Because I’m in it! 

The Mountain, rated PG, was released in cinemas nationwide on March 28.

On purpose

Vivid, bold and playful, Paul Darragh’s artwork brings all the drama.

Words Hayley Barnett

Having worked on projects for Rihanna, Nike, IBM and The New York Times, Mount Maunganui artist Paul Darragh knows a thing or two about pop culture. When he moved home from the bright lights of New York City, where he had established his own design studio and gallery space (Manhattan Born), he knew he wanted to “strip back the BS” and focus on getting to the bottom of who he really is. Each painting, he says, gets him a little closer to that place.

UNO: How did you become an artist?

Paul: I believe you are born an artist, and you can try and ignore those tendencies, but eventually they must come out in order to fulfil your life’s destiny and purpose. As a teenager, I loved art and graphic design, but decided to pursue the latter professionally. I worked as a graphic designer first in Melbourne for four years, then in New York City for 10 years. It was at the end of this period, after working with some top brands and experiences, that I realised I was no longer creatively fulfilled just doing that work. I needed to also create art. So I remember that day in 2015, at my job in Brooklyn, deciding from then on I would become an artist. 

How did you discover this medium?
My art practice is distinctly influenced by my design career; the work is flat, graphic and bold. However, I have always been influenced by artists that work in this style. When I discovered Andy Warhol as a teenager, his work really resonated with me, and so began a love of paintings that have a strong sense of composition and colour with a nod to commerce and pop culture. These things all interest me, it’s what I think about, and it’s who I am. I believe my art should reflect the contemporary world around me, through my visual language of colour and composition. 

What do you love about it?
I love that I am in complete control when I create an exhibition or collection of paintings. I have no boss or subordinates to consider. I have no one to bounce ideas off of. I only have my own mind and a belief in myself. It’s very raw and it can be very cathartic. Creating is very much a journey. You start with nothing and you have to make thousands of decisions to arrive at this final image and it often doesn’t come easy, nor does it end up like the image in your mind's eye. But therein lies the magic. 

Why did you move to the Mount?
When I moved home from New York I didn’t really know where in Aotearoa I wanted to live. I decided I would move home to my parents’ farm outside of Matamata and figure it out from there. I ended up staying there for a couple of years before meeting my now-partner Ali, who lives and has a business at the Mount. We had been together for seven months when the pandemic hit in 2020, so I moved over when the lockdown started. Three years later, I’m still here, and the Mount is now my home. 

What inspires you to create?
I have a theory that each person is born with a pure soul that is the representation of their unique identity and spirit. Over time, this gets whittled away as we learn how to navigate life. We pick up insecurities and bruises. We feel shame and hide parts of ourselves. We let in resentment and bitterness. When I paint, I am trying to achieve that purity again.

What is your favourite piece and why?
One of my favourite pieces is from my latest show “Shape Up or Ship Out” at Tauranga Art Gallery. It is called Precious Cargo. I love it because it’s really big, really simple and really bright. It has an optical illusion to it. It could be a jewel, it could be a container or it could be a button from a 1980s game. You could be viewing it from above, or in front or inside of it, so it has the ability to distort space and perspective.

Who is your favourite artist right now?
One of my favourite artists right now is Ad Minoliti. They are a non-binary artist from Argentina. They make incredible geometric abstraction and installations. There are also a lot of references to children’s illustration. The paintings are bright and fun and filled with joy. 

bemodern.co.nz

Home remedy

Photographer Alan Gibson’s new book For The Love Of The Country highlights the everyday beauty in the work of New Zealand’s farming families. Here’s an extract on Tauranga’s The Good Farm, a family
of organic farmers supplying the Bay with “good medicine”.

Loren Gibbs and partner Michaela Good own The Good Farm in Welcome Bay, Tauranga, and run it on organic principles, selling the milk, veggies and eggs they produce to locals. Loren Gibbs explains: “My mum always said that food is medicine. So, if you are eating good food, you are getting good medicine.

“At The Good Farm, we are on 10 hectares, and we are running mainly a raw-milk dairy herd. We milk between 14 and 16 cows during the day. We are not certified organic, but we like to think that we work alongside the principles of organic agriculture and gardening. We are spray free on our pastures and our vegetable garden. We don’t use synthetic fertilisers, any chemical pesticides or herbicides.

“We have a farm shop and that’s where we make most of our income. All the milk from our cows gets sold on the farm through a self-service dispenser. That’s about 180 litres a day. All the produce from the veggie garden and our eggs get sold through the shop as well, on an honesty system that works well. We get hundreds of people through the shop every week and they come from all walks of life; they are not all a bunch of hippies. The only thing they have in common is that they all want fresh, raw milk and that they care about their food. That’s the main thing.” 

Purchase
For The Love of The Country

at all good bookstores.

Permission to play

Artist Lily Ivana taps into her creative flow by freeing herself of expectations and the result is mixed-media magic.
Interview Hayley Barnett

Growing up, contemporary mixed media artist Lily Ivana was “never not doodling”. Back in her hometown in Yorkshire, UK, she often sat in front of the TV with a huge wooden board holding wallpaper and drew out masterpieces whilst watching her favourite shows. Now she calls the Bay home and says her artistic inspiration these days comes from the golden sands of the East Coast and wherever her weekend adventures take her.

How did you become an artist?
I come from quite a creative family. One of my earliest memories is sitting for my grandfather whilst he sketched my portrait. My dad is a bespoke joiner and triggered my love of design and ‘the makers mark’. I was lucky to get a place at Leeds College of Art, where I studied Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, specialising in object and spatial design. I also completed the UCA Drawing qualification whilst there. Then headed on to Nottingham to do my BAHons in Decorative Arts, specialising in ceramic sculpture.
Following university, I worked in various community arts projects in the UK and Aotearoa. And it opened my eyes to art as a tool for wellbeing and connection. 

How did you discover this medium?
My curiosity to experiment and play with new materials has led me to my current style of creating. Around five years ago, my partner bought me my Adventure Journal. I took it with me on all our travels with an ever-expanding materials’ case and filled it with non-pressured, playful, mixed-media creations. When we got back it was the natural flow for me to start translating what I’d learned into larger scale works. Creating is my mindfulness practice. Removing the pressure of what it’s going to turn out like really helped me to free up and create more. 

What do you love about it? 
Acrylic paints are so versatile, they can be thickened, thinned, textured and layered. I love working with acrylic and mixed media as anything goes and I don’t feel limited. I play around with materials to learn about them. Sometimes I don’t know how they’re going to interact, but that’s all part of the magic. My outcomes rarely come out like my initial idea. I find it very freeing, allowing myself to just go with the flow and let the materials lead the way. 

What are some of the things that inspire you to create your art?
I am super grateful to have an inspiring studio space, full of natural light, attached onto the deck where I live. It’s my happy place and having everything in one spot definitely helps with the momentum of creating.
The majority of my current work is influenced by my early morning coastal walks, weekend adventures and the plants I fill my home with. I create to recharge. The materials I’m drawn to and how the work turns out is always quite in the moment. All my work has brought me happiness.

What is your favourite piece and why?
Currently, my favourite piece is "A Gentle Day". I can imagine it bringing a peaceful, chilled feeling to a room. I like how the soft oil pastel line and block acrylic complement each other. This piece evolved over six months. When I see it I see the layers and the journey I went on when creating it.

Who is your favourite artist?
This changes all the time! At the moment, I can’t get enough of Californian artist Hilary Pecis, especially her landscapes. They feel so inviting with the contrast of solid colour and delicate, intricate shapes. I hope to be able to see her work in person one day.