Koha wood sculpture gallery
Matthew Soper is the wood sculptor at the new Koha gallery on Tukurua Road. Photo: Gerard Hindmarsh.
Matthew Soper is the wood sculptor behind Koha, the new gallery at 41a Tukurua Road, that opens at midday on Saturday 5 December.
His stock of Maori-inspired swirling designs are mostly carved out of English oak, and have been two years in the making.
Matthew says the name of his gallery reflects not only the literal meaning of the word koha, meaning appreciation or thank you gift (his shop being full of them), but is also an invitation to participate in his workplace.
“I see this place becoming a kind of local collective for the creative, say if anyone has a small project they want to complete, maybe even just a piece of driftwood they’d like to shape, then they’re welcome to turn up and utilise the tools that they might not have, koha style.
“My motto has always been ‘make it, fix it, create it’, and I’m certainly not the only one who shares that sentiment.”
Eventually Matthew hopes to share some of his other skills too, in the form of workshops in fire spinning, stained glass and the Mayan Calendar.
Now in his thirties, Matthew was born in the Waikato and initially trained as a cabinet maker before completing a Diploma in Tourism. Along the way he became an abseiler, mostly working “faceboards” (big advertising walls) in various North Island cities, mostly Wellington.
Prior to moving to Golden Bay he lived for two years in Motueka.
The prospect of settling down here is highly appealing for him. “For a start, it’s my first garden in nine years. That’s pretty exciting.”
Koha occupies the former premises of Colours of the Sea gallery and Flax Gully Pottery.
Gerard Hindmarsh
