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Tatjana Panyoczki
Artist Tatjana Panyoczki moved to Kaiwaka from Titirangi in West Auckland 18 years ago.She first trained as a wig maker in Switzerland and then worked in special effects make-up artistry for film, theatre and television in London. But Tatjana decided to hang up the make-up brushes and go to art school in Auckland.
“I was going to be a furniture designer but I was drawn to jewellery. It is to do with my relationship to the body as a make-up artist, and it was a natural progression for me,” Tatjana says.
Her jewellery is hard to categorise. She wears a t-shirt that says, ‘I’m not that sort of jeweller!’ Tatjana works with any material that inspires her, often hoarding away things ready to be re-invented into her unique style.
Whilst Tatjana works on a small scale, she is married to painter and sculptor Peter Panyoczki, who works mostly on very large-scale pieces.
“We work well together and have just had a big collaborative show in Wellington, although obviously we are poles apart on scale,” she says.
Tatjana believes living in rural Kaiwaka gives her the peace and tranquillity she needs to help her work. She loves the vibrant local community and says it was a surprise to find such an interesting eclectic mix of people in the area.
Her work, as with her husband’s, has received international acclaim, and is displayed in five galleries nationwide, including Piece Gallery in Matakana.
