ARTbop Q&A with Tauranga creative Kalou Koefoed of The Basaloid Project.  The project is a body of creative works.  A visual art exhibition at the The Incubator Creative Hub, associated Artery workshops and the launch of a graphic novel in April 2020. They  are “a call to creativity”.  But it is so much more than that. It’s an affirming and inspirational personal creative statement of surviving one of our most feared contemporary personal challenges and it’s a call “to grab life by the balls”.

Who are you? I’m an artist, writer, maker.  Originally from Denmark, I have lived in the Mount for the past 14 years with my husband and son. My day job is at the Tauranga Art Gallery.

What is your field of creative endeavour?  I like to do a bit of everything. Two years ago I wrote and self-published my first book for young adults, The Wave. At the moment I’m working on my first solo exhibition, The Basaloid Project, which will open at the Incubator on the 9th of April 2020.

Where is your studio/where are you based?  My kitchen table is my happy place where I like to sit and write and draw. I would love to have a proper studio someday.

What do you want the community to know? I would love for the community to come to my exhibition and be inspired to do their own creative thing. The Basaloid Project is above all a call to creativity. The idea for the project emerged not long after starting treatment for cancer in March 2019.

Named after the type of cancer that resided temporarily in my rear unit, the Basaloid Project has three parts: A 24-page graphic novel, the exhibition at the Incubator, and 3 workshops.

The Basaloid graphic novel: Told through metaphor and symbolism, it’s a story about journeying through the storm and emerging on the other side. It’s about hope, resilience, vulnerability, fear, love, purpose, and renewal. All illustrated by hand with fine ink pens.

The Basaloid exhibition: The exhibition will feature 24 works, all of which make up the pages of the Basaloid graphic novel. Some works will be comic book style, some will be larger works, and some will be sculpture.

The Basaloid workshops: The workshops offer healing through art. It’s a chance for people to explore their own story and creativity as they create their one-page autobiographical comic using a variety of art supplies. These three-hour workshops will be held at the Artery (next to the Incubator) on Tuesday evenings for the duration of the exhibition in April. Limited spaces, bookings essential, more info to come.

The Basaloid graphic novel will launch on the same night as the exhibition opens at the Incubator, Thursday the 9th of April 2020, and will be available for purchase at the Incubator as well as online on my website and via Amazon. Prints and other works will also be for sale. With the Basaloid Project I hope to galvanize and inspire people to live their best creative lives. To seriously grab life by the balls. Right now. Because, why wait? The project is funded by Creative New Zealand’s Creative Communities Scheme.

Where can more information about this be found? On facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/258070328498534/?active_tab=about On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rollingaskalou/?hl=en

My creative background: I’ve been drawing and making up stories since I was little. I feel happiest when I’m working on some creative project.

My creative achievements: I took part in a few group exhibitions at both the Incubator and Zeus Gallery in the past but probably my Wave book is my greatest creative achievement to date.

My future creative plans: After the Basaloid Project exhibition finishes at the Incubator (5th of May), I plan to have a break before starting work on a novel for adults. There’s also a pyramid sculpture idea that has been floating around for a while. We’ll see.

If I could go anywhere it would be to: New York City. I’m going there with my friend Hannah soon. We’ve been saving up for over three years. It will be amazing!

I would love to see/hear: Would love to see a murmuration – aka Black Sky, where thousands of thousands of starlings take off at the same time. I saw the Northern lights once when I was ten years old. Would love to see them again.

Text responses to ARTbop’s Q&A provided by Kalou Koefoed

You will enjoy the content of Kalou’s site   https://rollingaskalou.com/author/rollingaskalou/

A SunLive feature   https://sunlive.co.nz/news/189974-local-author-is-making-waves.html

The Wave on Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/Wave-Kalou-Koefoed/dp/1720826196

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rollingaskalou/

 

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