“Exquisitely messy, human and scaled accordingly” is the way Martin Poppelwell describes his art. The potter and painter, known for his grid-like decorations and exposed, work-inprogress aesthetic, returned to Hawke’s Bay in 1998 after years in other parts of New Zealand and overseas. He’d grown up in Hastings, but these days he lives in a 130-year-old cottage in Napier with his wife.
“Auckland is where most of the work is,” says the 44-year-old, who works out of a large, light studio that was built on the property in 2009. “But here it’s just connected enough to maintain contact with dealers and galleries. Sometimes you miss being around the more active spaces, but you can hunker down without getting too wound up about the fiscal side of your art practice.”