This is eye-conic! Editor Nina Tucker
by Metropol | May 27, 2026 8:33 am
When everybody else is busy watching one another – on the street, on social media, on television – Ōtautahi-based artist Jessie Rawcliffe asks, who’s watching the watchers?
If her work on our cover, or any of the pieces on page 13 make you feel uncomfortable and a little unsettled, they’re meant to. Embrace it. Sitting in discomfort (as you’ll find out from our experience with meditation on page 31) is a form of self-care. Jessie’s series titled Gazer places confrontation between conversation – and the viewer is caught in the middle. It’s everything art should be: intriguing, interesting, and incredibly thought-provoking. The kind of art (or eyes) that keep Ōtautahi alive.
This brings me to introducing our second Creative Canterbury section for 2026. It’s the perfect opportunity to reference something I read in Vogue’s May 2026 issue (which leans into this year’s Met Gala with the theme Costume Art) about how “art is a legacy of a much older term from the ancient Greeks arete, which translates as ‘excellence’”.
The challenging of defining what constitutes art is fascinating. Can’t any human-made thing (not a product of artificial intelligence, let me be clear) be considered an art form or art work? So much in life – from the mundane to the magnificent – is born from something inherently creative.
That’s why deputy editor Tamara Pitelen sat down with one of Christchurch’s most excellent creatives, Ellie Compton. Her impressive commission requests include a custom artwork that celebrates the people who constructed our city’s One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.
It’s apt that our other feature story focuses on vino queen Kim Schofield, whose tagline for her multi-award-winning Dancing Water Winery is ‘the art of making beautiful wine.’ Because turning a run-down North Canterbury winery, with more problems in five years than some face in a lifetime, into a global success is, indeed, an art form. Find out how she made the world’s most excellent rosé on page 6.
Beyond traditional artistic talent and wondrous winemaking, some might say successfully pairing two animal prints in one outfit is an art form. So go wild on page 18 where local designers show it can, and should, be done.
What does excellence look like at Metropol?
I’m elated to say it doesn’t get much better than being named Magazine of the Year at the recent national community media awards, for two years in a row. It means so much to be recognised for the passion it takes to produce a fortnightly magazine celebrating every corner of Canterbury, but it’s our turn to recognise the community of readers, advertisers, and supporters we do it for. Thank you, and enjoy the read.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/this-is-eye-conic-editor-nina-tucker/