Trisha Fisk

Trisha Fisk has a lifetime of practical skills from years of farming in the Hokianga which she now brings to her life as an artist and sculptor.

“I am at my happiest when I am creating something and mucking about with tools in the workshop or studio. But its only the last fifteen years or so since retiring from the farm that I have been able to give that side of myself free rein.”

Trisha likes to let her materials dictate the play. Whether it is a distorted and tideswept piece of ancient driftwood or  a bit of local basalt, the end form is already within.

“I have learned to let the rock determine how it wants to be crafted. Anytime I resist that and try to dictate what the end result should be, the rock invariably gets the last say. It makes working stone a very humbling and esotereric experience. Even though its mostly hard work, noise and dust.”

Trisha has been successful at many symposiums throughout New Zealand.

mostly works alone at home. 

  Interspersed with periods of intense hard work at the studio, she takes off travelling New Zealand in her house truck with a book on New Zealand geology as travel guide. 

“I invariably come back laden with stone from elsewhere. Our Northland basalt  is great to work, but for colour you cannot beat the south island granites, serpentines, marbles, and argillite.” 

“People often ask how long a piece took to carve and my answer is always my age. It’s a lifetime of skills and experience that goes into each work. I aim to just keep getting better and better!”