ABOVE: Rangitoto Porcelain

SHARDS OF JOY

Born in the UK, Joanne Luker loved art at high school: “I have always enjoyed being creative, doing crafts and making my own individual things. I grew up near an old Victorian rubbish tip, and these surroundings were just magical to me. Every time we dug a hole in the garden we found pieces of old china. I also spent a lot of time at the beach looking for fossils with my family. This has evolved into assemblage and mosaic art.”

She went on to study Geography and, over the years, she has enjoyed short courses in pottery, painting, floral design and jewellery making, but her mosaic art is self-taught from her love of rescuing old porcelain shards.

We asked Joanne where she gets her inspiration: “My mind is always wandering off. I am inspired by geographies, geology, social histories, and the natural landscape. Each little piece of sea glass or weathered shard that I find tells me a story. I am also inspired by researching the patterns and back stamps on the crockery and recording the past stories the diverse broken ceramic pieces can tell, much like a museum would, but in art.”

She also enjoys other arts and crafts, but prefers the ‘freestyle’ type where there is no need for mathematical equations. A common artistic trait! “ I love crochet and textiles, I collect fabric, and I like to sew. I also like to be outside and exploring places with family – most likely coming home from a bush or beach walk with pockets full of shards of pottery or glass.”

Some artists who have inspired her include Cleo Mussi (UK) for her mosaic art and Beatrice Carlson (France/NZ) for her amazing adornments and joie de vivre! “In particular, I am inspired by NZ artist Dale Copeland – Taranaki. I once saw a tv documentary of her similarly pulling rubbish from an old beach – she puts abstract pieces together expertly and intelligently, and I’ve bought a few pieces of her assemblage work.”

Joanne, like many of us, is challenged with telling left from right, and yet her favourite subject is maps. “I’ve come to know my artistic ‘mental map’ governs the way I perceive and navigate the world around me. I’ve also discovered that it’s ok to focus on subjective experiences and personal geography in a map, rather than objective reality.”

Thriving on the whole process of finding and unearthing treasures to collect, Joanne has a fascination with the stories that old pottery/porcelain and in particular broken shards tell her.

“I’m always treasure hunting for pieces to use in my art and am motivated by the realisation that I am also recycling and re-making new stories. I do spend time researching and documenting pottery fragments, where I find them and where they came from, just because I am fascinated by the history of pottery industries and patterns. I also spend a lot of time rescuing porcelain from op shops and going to flea markets.”

It’s important to her to learn about the origin of a shard and the maker before she can re-use it.  “I like to feel that I am honouring each pottery shard with a new ‘place’, recycling and reassembling it.”

Mostly tuning in to nature, or her own thoughts, she works in silence. “Making an art piece for me is a whole process of ‘chance finds’ and gathering bits and pieces – It is a treasure-hunt, you never know what you’ll find. Similarly, doing mosaic art is like doing a jigsaw puzzle – you keep moving pieces around until you find a kind of fit, but art (unlike a jigsaw) doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s very therapeutic. Once I have finished the ‘arty’ part of the work, I will grout all my tesserae, so it becomes permanent.”

Joanne has recently been involved in the ‘Art of fiction project’ – a patchwork designed by creative writers at the University of Exeter, to celebrate women’s creative identities. This includes patches made from all over the globe by multidisciplinary artists about ‘Women’s work’.    “I think this is such an amazing idea and the finished quilt is on show at MAKE Southwest in Bovey Tracey, Devon (2025). I am also working on some ideas for mosaic entries into Art Exhibitions around New Zealand and making smaller pieces for Gallery shops.”

In 2022, after the lockdown, she exhibited work in the NZ National Mosaic Art Exhibition. “My piece entitled ‘The Whanganui River’ won First Place in the wall-hanging (2-dimensional) section. Whanganui is such a spiritual place, and I learnt so much about the Awa when I was researching and thinking about my piece – I was so relieved to do it justice. Prior to this I also won the ‘Reflections of New Zealand’ section of the National Mosaic Exhibition in 2018 – Orewa and a Merit Prize in the Hibiscus & Bays Arts Awards 2017 – Mairangi Bay, Auckland. In 2024 I won a Merit Award for my mosaic piece at the Estuary Arts centre Members Awards Exhibition.”

Since 2018 she has been a member of New Zealand Mosaic Art Inc. (NZMA), serving on the Committee and as Secretary for two years until 2023. She also teaches mosaic workshops in community education and art centres in Auckland with an emphasis on re-cycling and mental wellbeing through piecing together broken crockery. “I really enjoy tutoring mosaic workshops to help others find the joy in mosaic art and begin to see something broken in a completely different way. I was recently involved in tutoring mosaic art for mental wellbeing at Selwyn Community Education. I volunteer at Auckland Museum and help with sewing projects and I also make the Christmas table decorations every year for the Volunteers Christmas luncheon from my driftwood collections and/or beach finds – this has been such a privilege over the last 10 years.”

Through NZMA she has met other artists working in mosaics throughout New Zealand and has been involved in helping and planning National Mosaic Exhibitions and symposia. “There is a good comradery amongst mosaic artists, and it’s lovely to visit other galleries and parts of New Zealand I had never been to before.”

As all artists have experienced at some time, Joanne has also had self-doubt about her work. “I am very critical of myself, but without feeling these lows I wouldn’t get to experience the highs of completing or selling a piece. Positive visualisation and not taking things too seriously is the key. I’ve recognised that this is something I just need to do as an outlet to coping with daily trivial routines – to be able to ‘make’ gives me lots of satisfaction and joy.”

She has small art pieces in the Weka Gallery Shop at Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa and Depot ArtSpace toi toa Shop in Devonport, Auckland. Tourists enjoy her work and one of the first art pieces she sold went to Canada! She also has pieces that are now in the UK, Germany and Australia.