"When I joined the army 10 years ago I thought it was going to be full of boof heads and Rambo guys and now I've gotten to know people in the army it's not the case at all." Photo / Dean Purcell
"When I joined the army 10 years ago I thought it was going to be full of boof heads and Rambo guys and now I've gotten to know people in the army it's not the case at all." Photo / Dean Purcell
Matt Gauldie has been the New Zealand Army’s artist for 10 years. He’s travelled to Afghanistan, the Solomon Islands and on commemorative trips to London, El Alamein and Gallipoli.
1. Your 250kg bronze sculpture of WWI artist Horace Moore-Jones was unveiled on Hamilton's main street last month. How did you get involved? I'd turned up to a street renaming ceremony at the site of the hotel fire where Moore-Jones died from burns he got trying to rescue people in 1922. They said, "we're thinking of doing a sculpture as well and we'd like you to submit a concept". It's ended up 5.5m higher than planned after we got offered a 7-tonne block of granite from Canakkale in Gallipoli. The figure was already done by the time the stone arrived but it was such a beautiful cube - you could see all the quarry lines where it had been chopped out of the cliff face - so we thought "let's just incorporate it". It was a little bit of a gamble because it sort of changed the aesthetics a bit.
The Line of Fire unveiled today, the Sapper Moore Jones sculpture has Gallipoli rock as part of it pic.twitter.com/f6AcZFhoVQ
2. Moore-Jones's painting Simpson and his Donkey is probably Australasia's most famous Gallipoli artwork. Your sculpture shows him taking sight lines. Why? I like to capture people doing their job. Moore-Jones was actually an army engineer surveying graphical maps, so most of what he was out to do in the field was pinpoint enemy bases and try to make some sense out of those crazy gullies and ridges at Anzac Cove. It just so happened that he was a great artist as well.
3. Do you think the man in the painting was Simpson the Australian or Henderson the New Zealander? My theory is that Moore-Jones was no slouch, he didn't make a mistake with the name. I think he wanted to paint a commemorative painting for Simpson and used the photo of Henderson as a reference, maybe to get the donkey or its stance right.
4. Should army artists work in the field or is it okay to work from photos afterwards? I try to create things as fresh as I can. I always ask myself, "can you smell the dust, the cordite or the fresh rain?". Because what you're really trying to do is soak everything in through all your senses and infuse your artwork with that. Your own personal fears and anxiety should be wrapped up in it too. A photo captures one moment in time. As a painter, you have the opportunity to recreate many moments and experiences and ideas all in one image.
5. New Zealand's first official army artist was appointed after WWI. What's the benefit of being in the army? The army has its own culture and it's been helpful to understand that. To know some of the lingo, understand some of the conversation and the sentiments behind them. Also to get first-hand experience.
6. You joined the army to get the artist job. Were you accepted by the other soldiers? I did three months' basic training in Waiouru which was a bit of a rude awakening. I learned pretty quick to just keep my eyes open and mouth shut. Some of the corporals had a bit of a field day when they found out I was going to be the army artist. They thought it was hilarious to have me go out and repaint the yellow lines on the ground. They'd say, "There he goes, the army artist, repainting the yellow lines". They were also pissed off because a week after that they had to start calling me "sir". That's why I make sure I always place "Honorary" in front of Captain because obviously there are guys who worked 10 years for that rank.
"As a painter, you have the opportunity to recreate many moments and experiences and ideas all in one image." Photo / Dean Purcell
7. Did you do any extra preparation for Afghanistan and the Solomons? I did some more advanced weapons training down in Tekapo in order to be placed into patrols with engineers. You have to be a combatant, which means getting out there and manning the machine guns, sentry duty and that sort of stuff. There are no passengers over there.
8. You went to Gallipoli in 2013 to research a series of paintings. What were your impressions? I met up with historian Ian McGibbon and we walked the New Zealand trail, trekking through the overgrown trenches so I could set my compositions in the exact areas. It's like a giant graveyard. I found some bullets as we walked. I also found a human rib bone. It's bloody heavy, really heavy stuff. When you walk down rows and rows of graves it hits home how many were lost.
9. Nejat Kavvas, the former Turkish Honorary Consul who was key to forging our strong friendship with Turkey, has called on New Zealand to apologise for invading Gallipoli. Do you agree? I don't think there's a point. It was another time, a different era. New Zealand was a colony for the British Empire. Their sultans were at an end and a new secular democracy was beginning. It was a terrible coming of age for both countries at the cost of a generation of young men. I think everyone should feel sorry for the poor guys that were out there on both sides, to take it as a lesson learned and make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
10. Do you feel more at home in the army or the art community? Both. When I joined the army 10 years ago I thought it was going to be full of boof heads and Rambo guys and now I've gotten to know people in the army it's not the case at all. And the stereotyped dim-witted flaky artist thing doesn't work in this day and age either. Artists have to work their asses off and be very organised to make a living.
11. Why did you drop out of Elam School of Arts? At high school in Hawaii I'd won a few prestigious art competitions and was thinking big and wanted to achieve a lot in the world. Then I got to Elam and was knocked down a few pegs and told that figurative art is dead and you can't be everything that you want in this world. Just a lot of negativity.
12. How has your work been received by art critics? I have only had a few reviews of my exhibitions and have been praised, persecuted and a couple in between. My work has a broad appeal in that everyone can relate to it or enjoy it. I serve my country through art and there's an element of education to it. I like trying to pinpoint different aspects of New Zealand culture. I focus on my own creative journey. If I was doing art to make money, I have paintings that I could still be doing because they'd sell 100 times, but who wants to do that? You've got to keep moving and challenging yourself.
• Matt Gauldie has a solo show at the Parnell Gallery, Auckland, in November. An exhibition of his illustrations for The Tale of the Anzac Tortoise by Shona Riddell opens in Wellington this weekend.
