Choosing just three of The White Room artists to speak at the Shifting the Stream forum at Tūranga Library in Ōtautahi was a challenge. This was a valuable opportunity to uphold the mana of our community but narrowing down the selection was difficult. More than 70 artists attend The White Room each week and most are eager to share their work and engage with others.

Eventually, we invited Matthew Fell, Jager Sowman and Kayla Hood to kōrero on behalf of The White Room. Matthew and Kayla have been attending The White Room Creative Space for a number of years and Jager has joined more recently after relocating from Wellington where he used to attend Pablos Art Studios.

The hui began with a performance by Jolt, whose work serves as a strong reminder of how performance can uplift and inspire a room. We then listened to presentations from Kim Morton at Ōtautahi Creative Spaces, Mandy Patmore from the Kākano Youth Collective, and Stace Robertson at Arts Access Aotearoa, who introduced the Taha Hotu Deaf and Disabled Artists Initiative.

These discussions showcased the vital and diverse mahi driving positive change across our communities in Aotearoa.

Artists speak about their creative journeys

When The White Room took to the stage, the artists spoke directly about their own creative journeys. Kayla detailed her artistic development, explaining how she transitioned from copying Disney characters to creating original artwork from her own reference material.

Kayla loves drawing, loves cartoons and loves her cat Luna. She also used to love to draw her cat Charlie although he has now passed on. Her art reflects these interests so when she is drawing cats, she’s especially happy. Zombies can also occasionally be found in her work.

Kayla describes The White Room as a calm place to be, and a happy place where she enjoys creating art. She says she will never get bored of being at The White Room.

Kayla has shown her work in a number of exhibitions, including "Permutate" at Lyttelton Woolstore (2022) and in a Hōhepa fundraiser show.

Jager shared his recent pieces, showing a wide range of interests that cross from the Topp Twins to Star Trek.

Jager works with a large range of materials and subject matters. He is versatile and open to working with anything. He is inspired by science fiction, aeroplanes, animations and animals.

He used to volunteer for the SPCA with cats, which gave him inspiration for his art. Jager is also a keen woodworker and has more recently got into model making.

Matthew presented his portfolio, focusing on his "Earthquake Fairies" series. He explained how these figures were made as a direct response to his experiences after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, acting as a symbolic way to help repair the city.

Matthew has a love of anime, which he uses to develop a range of characters and fan art. These have included a series named "The Earthquake Fairies" and, more recently, a character called Candy Keeper.

Matthew sometimes works digitally to produce detailed and carefully rendered characters, though he is just as happy working with pencil and sometimes light ink. He would also like to start using watercolour pencil.

Matthew has recently shown his work at the Ōtautahi Zinefest where he sold several of his pieces.

The event’s greatest lesson is to let the artists tell the story. They know it best and can powerfully articulate how creative spaces have transformed them.

Shifting the Stream provided an important space for whanaungatanga, allowing us to build and strengthen connections with other creative sectors across the motu. It brought visibility to the immense amount of work that often goes unnoticed behind the scenes.

In this sector, heavy operational demands mean that taking time out to listen to others can feel like a secondary priority. However, this intentional coming together is crucial to foster collective relationships and learn from parallel frameworks.

Our team left the hui grounded and ready to continue our mahi. While systemic hurdles persist, most notably the ongoing struggle for long-term, sustainable funding, the opportunity to share a drink with colleagues at the end of the day reinforced our shared commitment to this work.

The White Room is a member of the Creative Spaces Network. Find out about the nine other creative spaces in the Canterbury region.