A scene from one of Levin artist Nigel Comber's dioroma, on display at Levin Library Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po.
A scene from one of Levin artist Nigel Comber's dioroma, on display at Levin Library Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po.
A Levin diorama artist has made good on a pledge made to his late father.
Nigel Comber inherited a love of history from his father Phil Comber, who died last year. He had always encouraged Nigel to pursue his love for art, and had often suggested he should exhibit his work.
“He really encouraged that, rather than having it sit in a room somewhere. So when he passed I decided to do what we had talked about,” he said.
So this month Nigel Comber, 49, has examples of his work on display at Levin library Te Takeretanga o Kua-hau-po, called A Trip Back In Time.
He initially donated a diorama piece to the library, so when the opportunity arose for a full-blown exhibition, he took it. They’re period pieces combining Comber’s art with his interest in history.
“I’ve always been interested in New Zealand history and museums,” he said.
One of Nigel Comber's diorama features a scene from a pre-1900 New Zealand supply store.
Some depict early life in Horowhenua, depicting industry, railways, whare and pataka, pioneer houses, and life in the bush, one a scene showing a bullock pulling timber, another a grocery store.
“I find dioramas are a way of visually describing a moment in time. Half the fun is in researching and planning, so once I have an idea of interesting subject matter, it’s a case of making it ... a diorama ties it all together.”
His detailed handiwork is almost an exercise in patience and he purposely doesn’t keep time, spending countless hours on each work.
“You are not actually thinking about time. It’s like someone who enjoys playing golf. You don’t count the time,” he said.
He was constantly fine-tuning techniques to improve his work, like repurposing old swabs to make trees, a different ways to make corrugated iron.
“That’s the thing with this hobby, you are constantly learning new techniques and ways of doing things,” he said.
“You have an idea and go for it and three years later you look at it and go back and upgrade it. You get better.”
“The process to make the scenery has probably been the hardest as I learn new techniques, usually because of trial and error. You find out quickly what doesn’t work. You find cheaper, quicker, easier, more efficient ways.”
The bullocks pulling carts were made from clay which he said” sags and hardens in a different position” if it is too wet when set.
One of the dioroma artist Nigel Comber has on display at Levin Library Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po.
“You have your wins and losses. It can be frustrating,” he said.
A diorama is defined as a three-dimensional exhibit, often miniature in scale and housed in a cubicle. It usually consists of a flat or curved back cloth on which a scenic painting or photograph is mounted
“I have been making these for about seven years and the ideas are endless,” he said.
There’s the ability to tell a story within a story, for the subject matter to be telling their own story.
“Sometimes you might come across something that you think might be frowned upon today, but history is what it is,” he said.
“It’s quite interesting because there are a lot of other people that are into it, some using different media and 3D modelling. At the moment I am hands on.”
Artist Nigel Comber has a display of work at Levin library Te Takeretanga o Kua-hau-po this month.
An old train in Foxton was a good example of the lengths Comber went to in making a diaroma. He took measurements of the train and countless photos. He has to get inventive with parts, literally using No 8 wire to represent parts of the motor.
For that reason he kept a large variety of items in his workshop at home, each waiting for the day they are called to a scene.
He said he’d really like to start doing more diaroma depicting pre-colonial New Zealand, portraying Māori life with whare and kainga.
