Hill is a survivor of sexual abuse by Fr Michael Shirres and told RNZ she has been re-traumatised by Wallace's naming.

In the 1980s, Hill sold her painting for placement in Wallace's collection.

"It was a time in my life where I felt pretty happy about myself, I'd always pointed to that as evidence that once I had a life that wasn't defined by survivor culture," she told RNZ.

However, after Wallace's name suppression was lifted last week, Hill says she is deeply distressed and is again being re-traumatised.

"I was genuinely distraught," she said, "and I am still experiencing the effects of being re-traumatised and triggered."

She told RNZ that her time of feeling happy about herself has been "totally taken away," and she no longer wishes to be associated with him or his collection.

Hill's request to have her art removed comes as she believes her association with the collection, which bears Wallace's name, conflicts with her advocacy work and personal experiences.

She condemns Wallace's actions as "horrible and disgusting" and says the Trust's management, which oversees the Wallace Collection, needs to communicate with artists and offer them the option to remove their artworks if they so choose.

"I don't think it should be my job to figure out how to remove myself from their institutionalised exhibition; it's their job to look after me as a survivor who no longer wants to be part of it," said Hill.

In 2021, the trustees of the James Wallace Arts Trust established a new charitable organisation called The Arts House Trust.

The Arts House Trust say they are no longer associated with Sir James Wallace and his Trust.

The Arts House Trust, the entity responsible for operating the Pah Homestead where the Wallace Collection resides, confirmed to RNZ that they had reached out to Hill to discuss her request.

But Hill said supporting Wallace's victims would take more than gestures.

"It would be good to suggest that people ask [the victims] what they need and consider that this in itself won't end their issues," she said.

The Arts House Trust says will continue to engage in discussions with Hill and assess the implications of her request as the institution seeks to uphold its commitment to contemporary art and the welfare of its associated artists.

Sir James Wallace, 85, was recently publicly named following the lifting of his name suppression in the Supreme Court.

The prominent businessman was found guilty of indecently assaulting three young men in separate incidents that occurred in the early 2000s, 2008 and 2016.

Sources

• RNZ
• NZ Herald
• CathNews NZ

Meesh's art style means the pencil never leaves the page and actually dovetails in with the overall message of the Bible. "One line, one thread, from the beginning of the Bible until the end, it's all one story.

Each illustration is made with one continuous line, which then joins with the next illustration, and the next, representing the one story than runs through the Bible from beginning to end," she explained.

For the Wellington illustrator and mum, the project is a dream come true. "God gave me the heart to draw and I have been drawing non-stop since I was a child."

Meesh's passion for illustrating goes back to her childhood love for the Bible. "The Bible is a precious gift that gives us insight into the great story of God's love revealed throughout time.

Reading Bible stories shows us how other people, just like us, live out their lives in faith, sometimes in failure, and the wondrous things that happen when we follow God.

"Drawing Bible stories brought me back to when, as a child, I used to wonder at the beautiful illustrations in Bible story books. Remembering those days helped me think of how I wanted to illustrate each story," she said.

The Big Little Bible App and now hardcover book has been designed to help parents engage their children with the Bible.

Aimed at 8-10 year olds, The Big Little Bible includes 30 Bible stories taken straight from the Contemporary English Version translation and seeks to bridge the gap from paraphrased Bible stories to independent real text Bible reading.

It features 100 of Meesh's illustrations using a unique 'one line' art technique called contour drawing. To date, there have been more than 800 downloads of the free app in New Zealand.

Following the app's success, Bible Society published The Big Little Bible in a hardback format and will give away 2,000 copies to families that may not be able to afford one. The book is also available for purchase.

The Big Little Bible book is $19.99 and can be ordered directly from Bible Society via email orders@biblesociety.org.nz or by phoning 0800 0800 424 253. The mobile app is free to download on the Apple and Google Play stores.

Source

Supplied

Four decades later, Shen now has a different patron commissioning his work: He has become, somewhat inexplicably, the unofficial portrait artist of the Vatican.

He painted the first official portrait of Pope Francis and recently completed a huge rendition of the second most powerful man in Rome, Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's money guy.

Shen's journey from favored propaganda artist of the People's Liberation Army to papal portraitist is an unusual tale of talent and timing.

It's a journey that took Shen from China to Australia, where he charged tourists $30 a pop for portraits in Sydney's Darling Harbour, and most recently to a balcony in the Vatican gardens where he sketched Pell.

"For me, one door closed, but another always opened," Shen, 66, said of his career in a recent phone interview from his studio in Bundeena, south of Sydney.

Shen was in his final year in high school when Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, the 1966-1976 campaign to restore ideological purity to China's anti-capitalist revolution.

His hopes of attending art school dashed with the closure of China's universities, Shen joined the Red Guards and then the People's Liberation Army, fully embracing the communist spirit of the times.

In the PLA, his self-taught artistic talents were recognized, and he became one of the legions of propaganda artists who glorified workers, farmers, and soldiers in the Socialist Realism style of Soviet propaganda.

In 1974, during a tour of duty in remote Heilongjiang Province, Shen painted his most famous work, "Standing Guard for Our Great Motherland," featuring three soldiers guarding the Sino-Soviet border from a watchtower. The piece was included in a 1974 exhibition at the National Art Museum in Beijing that was organized by Mao's wife, who personally praised it. Continue reading

Sources

• Crux
• Image: Wikipedia

The Presentation Sisters of Ireland, which has links to schools throughout the world funded her travel

For the past few weeks she has been at St Bernadette's in Naenae.

She has also completed murals at Our Lady of the Rosary in Waiwhetu and San Antonio School in Eastbourne.

St Bernardette's principal Jo Buckley says it has been a privilege hosting her.

She says the pupils have enjoyed watching the mural unfold.

They liked having an input into the design. It features the school's motto and multicultural makeup.

The schools help by providing the paint and accommodation.

"These last two months while I painted murals in Dunedin, Eastbourne, Waiwhetu, and Naenae; I stayed 45 of my 60 nights at Michele Lafferty's house in Island Bay. Michele graciously allowed me to transform her extra en-suite room into an art studio, where I painted a number of panels for Naenae and Eastbourne," said Yates.

"Without the Island Bay studio, I would not have had sufficient time to finish all of the murals and designs. Her house gave me the freedom to work 12 hour days without the harsh sun or wind and rain."

"It allowed me to go the entire 60 days without taking a full day off; yet feel almost as if I was on vacation through it all."

"I was within an hour of all of the north island schools, so with the help of Michele, the principals Jo and Therese, and Karina, an Irish school teacher, I commuted."

"But when I was back in Island Bay, I could walk down the steep hills to the beach; eventually walking barefooted like many of the locals."

Yates says she had always dreamed of doing voluntary work around the world.

Although she admires the work of the Catholic church, Yates is not a Catholic.

‘‘I am actually not a Catholic but I am always going to Catholic masses and working with Catholic people. That seems to be my life.''

New Zealand is her third stop after Tasmania and the Philippines.

Read Ella's Blog

Source

• Hutt News
• Nanopa
• Image: Nanopa