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Clelia Burton

2018 CLELIA BURTON FELLOWSHIP - CLOSED

Only available in 2018.

2018 Clelia Burton Fellow - Caitlin Dyas is a multidisciplinary New Zealand artist with a passion for natural science and environmental sustainability. Born in 1993, with a Bachelors of Communication Design from Otago Polytechnic, she explores a wide range of themes in her work, but mainly focuses on nature, and feeling connected to nature, as well as trying to document the extraordinary ordinariness of everyday living through pen and pencil.

Caitlin focused on painting botanical illustrations in watercolour, focusing on native plants with medicinal properties, and reflecting on traditional practices of rongoā. This is for an illustrative field guide and app she will make on edible and medicinal plants of Aotearoa, highlighting their cultural significance throughout history and aiming to honour and strengthen the unique relationship we have with the land.

Background:

The 2018 Clelia Burton Fellowship honours Clelia Burton (1878-1952), a watercolour artist who primarily focused on New Zealand flora, with work held in the Collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library.  

As the Clelia Burton Fellow, this female artist - a resident of New Zealand - will have time and space to develop her work. Preference is given to an artist who paints in water colours, as did Clelia Burton. In recognition of the competing demands that many women artists face, preference will also be given to a woman who has a family and who needs time out to focus on her art. An exhibition can be arranged during the three-week residency.

Clelia Burton was a member of the Burton family who were the original residents of the 1911 homestead that would be converted into NZ Pacific Studio; the Burtons lived in the home from 1911 to 1972.  It was Clelia’s brother Christopher Burton Jr. who built the home of native timber (milled on site) and concrete (one of the first villas of its kind in Wairarapa). Clelia's father, clockmaker Christopher Burton Sr., built many of the town clocks around the country, including in Masterton and Feilding. After Clelia Burton married Albert Hustwick, she lived and painted in Woodville.

The 2018 Clelia Burton Fellowship is sponsored by Ron and Alison Burton who have many historical documents related to the family which can be made available to the Fellow.  The publication Living in Kaiparoro, held in in the library of NZ Pacific Studio, also provides information on the Burton family and the surrounding communities.

Residency period: Three weeks - one-off Fellowship - in 2018 only

Sponsors: Ron and Alison Burton, Marton