From Passion to Profession, How to Thrive as an Artist in 2025
Turning your love for art into a thriving career has never been more exciting—or more challenging. In this talk, we’ll explore how you can make your mark as an artist in 2025. Hear from a Prominent curator, artists and an architectural designer on how to showcase your work, grow your audience, and build a career you’re proud of. Whether you’re just starting out or want to take your art to the next level, this session will inspire you and give you some tools to succeed in today’s art world.
Natasha Conland | Moderator
Raukura Turei | Speaker
Jude Rae | Speaker
Brett Graham | Speaker
Natasha Conland is the Senior Curator of Global Contemporary Art at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. She has over twenty years experience developing exhibitions of contemporary art, as a freelance curator, curator of contemporary art at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, curator of et al.’s the fundamental practice for the New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2005, curator of the Scape Biennale 2006, curatorial comrade for Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev at the Biennale of Sydney 2008 and curator of the Auckland Triennial 2010. Conland writes for a number of contemporary arts journals and catalogues in the Asia Pacific region and co-edits Reading Room which is a peer-reviewed journal of contemporary art published annually by the E.H. McCormick Research Library.
Raukura Turei is a multi-disciplinary artist, architect, and designer based in Aotearoa, New Zealand. She earned her Master of Architecture (Prof) from the University of Auckland in 2011 and became a registered Architect with the NZRAB in 2015. Turei’s artwork has been exhibited both in Aotearoa and internationally, including at Auckland Art Gallery, CoCA, Objectspace, and the Tokyo Art Fair. She uses natural materials from Papatūānuku, such as aumoana and onepū, in her practice. Her paintings explore atua wāhine Māori, self, sensuality, and body sovereignty. Turei is showing at the 2025 Fair with day01. gallery.
Jude Rae is a Sydney-based artist renowned for her still life paintings, portraits, and architectural interiors. Her low-key, non-narrative imagery focuses on the formal and material aspects of representational painting, encouraging a reflective approach to visual experience. Over the past 40 years, Jude has exhibited in Australia and New Zealand, held residencies in France, Italy, and New Zealand, and taught at various institutions. She won the Portia Geach Memorial Award in 2005 and 2008 and was Highly Commended in the Archibald Prize. In 2016, she received the Bulgari Award from the Art Gallery of NSW. Jude is showing at the 2025 Fair with Two Rooms.
Brett Graham is a Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Tainui sculptor whose large-scale artworks and installations explore indigenous histories, politics, and philosophies. Based in Waiuku on the southern shore of Manukau Harbour, Auckland, Graham has traveled extensively throughout his career, undertaking residencies in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific, North America, and Europe. He views his Māori whakapapa as a Pasifika/Moana identity, connected to a global network of indigenous and non-Western peoples. His work engages with histories of imperialism and global indigenous issues, rooted in his cultural and philosophical perspectives. Brett is showing at the 2025 Fair with Gow Langsford.
Let’s Talk Art presented by Aon, brings together 30 artists, curators, designers, and collectors for nine compelling talks over three days.
Entry to Let’s Talk Art is on a first come, first serve basis. There is no RSVP.
A valid ticket to the Aotearoa Art Fair 2025 is required for entry to this talk.