The Art of Symbiosis
Coromandel Town is a very special place in our lovely region. Local artists and their incredible work keep the energy vibrant and refreshing. One of my favourite things is to wander through town and stumble across lovely encounters.
Last year, during the Coromandel Open Studios Arts Tour, our crew visited a number of studios and were lucky enough to spend time at The Gannet’s Nest in Wyuna Bay, where Kay Ogilvie was sharing her beautiful space with Iona Matheson. On opening night, Iona won the People’s Choice Award, and it was easy to see why. Both artists welcomed guests with warmth, speaking about their techniques with lightness and care.
We are lucky to have creatives like this in our rohe (region).
Iona grew up in Raumati North, near Wellington. A school trip to Kapiti Island at just nine years old left a deep imprint.
Surrounded by native birdlife in a protected sanctuary, her connection to te taiao (nature) began early. Creativity was also close to home.
Her father built quirky concrete paths filled with patterns, and she would help him shape and decorate them.
At 14, she and her mum attended ceramic decorating classes together. Fabric painting, driftwood jewellery, experimenting across media, it was all part of her early exploration.
That curiosity followed her into formal study. At Unitec, she trained in ceramics and fibre, immersed in the hands-on Craft Design programme. Later, she completed a postgraduate diploma in Art and Design at AUT. Unitec gave her the freedom to experiment and connect with a community of creatives in West Auckland. AUT sharpened her ability to articulate her ideas, strengthening her critical thinking and later supporting her role as an Education Manager in public galleries.
She speaks honestly about how that intense period of analysis took time to settle. After so much critique, it took a while to feel fully comfortable in the making again. But the thread that began at art school, combining ceramics with inlaid plant materials, still runs through her work today.
Iona’s professional journey has included working at Lopdell House and later at Te Uru Contemporary Gallery in Titirangi. Being surrounded by challenging and inspiring exhibitions shaped her eye and her confidence. From helping install work by Colin McCahon to engaging closely with the Portage Ceramic Awards, she absorbed a wide spectrum of artistic voices.
Large-scale public projects also expanded her practice. Collaborative sculpture work and site-specific commissions allowed her to connect deeply with communities and their histories.
She learned to think bigger, to embrace scale, and to appreciate the synergy that comes when many hands and minds contribute to a single outcome.
At the heart of Iona’s recent work is the idea of symbiosis. She spends time fossicking, collecting shells, stones, leaves and seed pods, drawn to textures and patterns shaped by nature. Her love of art and science intertwines. While studying at AUT, she created melting clay ‘specimens’ in jars, like a playful pseudo-scientist observing transformation.
Her Guardian Birds now reflect the interconnected relationships between flora, fauna and geology. Ceramic, recycled paper pulp, bronze, cast glass and embedded leaves come together in richly layered forms. There is something powerful about the way humble paper sits beside bronze, about how reclaimed materials gain new life. These Guardian Birds carry a quiet presence, reminding us of the cycles and connections that sustain te taiao, and inviting viewers to feel a similar respect and attentiveness to the natural world.
People often gift her kauri leaves and seed pods. Sustainability is not an afterthought but part of her values. Living close to places like Anawhata and Piha on Auckland’s wild West Coast reinforced her respect for land and community. Weekly studio visits to isolated Anawhata nurtured her connection with other artists. Later, an artist residency at Driving Creek brought her to Coromandel, where ‘living and breathing clay’ felt like a natural landing.
When someone encounters one of Iona’s sculptures up close, she hopes they feel a presence. Her work is textural, colourful, and layered with references to mythology and the whenua itself. It carries a quiet call for greater balance, reflecting the interconnected ways many indigenous cultures understand the world – a reminder that everything in nature moves through cycles and relationships. If humans could reconnect in similar ways, the world would look very different.
Now based in Coromandel after her Driving Creek residency, Iona continues to exhibit across Aotearoa. She has created major public works, including a 6-metre Moa Mountain at Massey Leisure Centre and leading the public art component for the New Lynn Library in Auckland.
For the 2025 Arts Tour, Iona presented a new collection of mixed media sculptures inspired by the lush Coromandel landscape and its endemic birdlife. Visitors were drawn to the layered textures, the fusion of materials and the quiet strength in each piece.
Spend a few minutes in front of one of her mythological birds and you begin to understand what fuels her practice: a deep respect for te taiao and the intricate relationships that hold it together.
email: kauritoad@gmail.com
Instagram: Iona Matheson Sculpting
Words by Leonardo Magri
