Using art to aid conservation – Sam Clark, the artist not the multisport athlete

From his birth place of Taihapi, the Gumboot Capital of the World to the Kiwi Capital of the World™, Sam Clark has travelled the globe to find that the Whakatane region is where his heart finds inspiration.

Sam has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Massey University in Wellington. His work has been influenced by his upbringing in rural New Zealand, but the motivation behind his initial wildlife series came during a trip to Alberta, Canada, after finishing high school.

Sam worked for nine months on a buffalo ranch and was constantly in awe of the beautiful North American birdlife that visited the farm, from mighty golden eagles to giant flocks of snow geese during the great migrations.

Returning to New Zealand in February 2007, Sam travelled the country in search of some of our rarest birds. He visited the Royal Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head, Dunedin and went to see the tieke on Stewart Island. He also saw the beautiful kokako in Te Urewera and observed kiwi in the Ohope Scenic Reserve.

Keen to help raise public awareness regarding rare birds, Sam has worked with conservation groups around New Zealand and has donated his designs for promotional use. These groups include the Te Urewera Mainland Island Project, Whakatane Kiwi Trust, Black Stilt Recovery in Twizel and Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust in Rotorua.

A series of “happy coincidences” instigated the design work he undertook for these projects. The ability to experience some of our most endangered wildlife and beautiful environments was exchanged for his creations, reaffirming his passion for wildlife and conservation.

“I want to make a statement about the precarious future of our native birds and the tragic loss, in the past, of some of our most unique birds,” says Sam.

Like those who influence him, Raymond Ching and Jamie Boynton, Sam’s artistic design often involves pioneering new techniques, resulting in stunning contemporary designs. Examples of those include his high-impact New Zealand and North American-style designs, created using pencil and ink.

One of Sam’s latest pieces, simply named ‘Contactless’, demonstrates the time and thought given to each individual design. The large, detailed allegorical work uses native and introduced plants and birds to focus on some of New Zealand’s most important colonial era events that have had ongoing consequences both ecologically and politically. The work strives to inform people of one of New Zealand’s most important, yet not widely acknowledged founding documents; the 1835 Declaration of Independence. The characters and symbols in the image reveal the conditions that brought this document into existence and the wider effects of colonisation on New Zealand’s native people, flora and fauna.

Sam has been in the involved in the annual Birds-a-plenty exhibition in Opotiki, the Whakatane Live Art Festival, and had work selected for exhibition in the Molly Morpeth Art Awards and the Tauranga National Art Awards. A contract for Icebreaker® saw Sam compiling seven designs for this world famous merino clothing company. You may have worn Sam’s art and not even realised it!

Upon completion of his degree Sam once again left New Zealand and travelled around Europe, resting in Germany for a year, before returning home to Whakatane. A stint on a local crayfish boat was soon followed by his current position, perfecting another art, creating the perfect coffee, as a barista at L'Epicerie on The Strand.

Sam still finds the time to continue with his passion for conservation and the community. He has recently assisted the Halo Whakatane stewardship group with the projects logo design and promotion.

“I ensure that my art is accessible and inclusive, every creation is thought out and more often thought provoking,” Sam says.

Sam’s words of wisdom for those undertaking the artistic journey is to, “stick to your guns and preserver with your passion and direction. The journey to success carries with it the threat of rejection, of failure, and of missed connections, but that is part of the adventure."