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Under the Hood with Shane Hansen

7 months ago by Jess Lowcher

Ahead of our upcoming online Under the Hood: Māori Design on 25 June, we sat down with one of our featured speakers, Shane Hansen. Register for your ticket to attend the webinar here.

Kia ora Koutou katoa,

Ko wai au?

Ko Tainui te waka

Ko Taupiri, ko Pīrongia ngā maunga tūpuna

Ko Waipā te awa

Ko Te Papa-O-Rotu te marae

Ko Ngāti Mahanga-Hourua te hapū

Ko Waikato te iwi

E ngā hau e wha

Nō Taranaki, nō Waikato, nō Whanganui, nō Haina, nō Tenemaka, nō Ahitereiria, nō Kōtirana ōku mātua tūpuna

I tipu ake ahau ki Manurewa ki Tāmaki Makaurau ki te tonga

Nō Tutukākā ahau e noho ana

Nō reira, tū ai ahau he uri mai i ēnei wāhi, ēnei tāngata

Ko ringa toi tōku mahi

Ko Shane Hansen tōku ingoa

Can you share a little about the path you took that has led you to where you are now as an artist and designer?

I have always enjoyed creating stuff. I was influenced by my Dad and Grandfather at a very young age. They would make us individual birthday cards each year, which was very exciting and inspiring which encouraged my desire to create.  Most birthdays I was given art equipment so I naturally spent hours drawing and making things tucked away in our ‘toy room’. I would get lost imagining scenes and scenarios as I drew them on the pages of my scrapbooks and art pads.

From intermediate age I was illustrating cartoon books, with my classmates as characters and with very unsophisticated ‘school life’ plots. The art teacher, Mrs Pearson, encouraged my creativity and scored me many hours off school work to focus on more important endeavours, like painting murals, illustrating school production props, carving entrance panels and other highly educational stuff.  This was the period when I started creating ‘brands’. Influenced by Quiksilver, ‘Radikal Razor’ my first foray, was carefully cut and stencilled on my Hanes tee.

High School came and creativity was very limited. To make school work interesting, I would recover all my exercise books in illustrated artwork as well as drawing throughout the interior. I honestly think doing this helped me snaffle better grades than I would have without the embellishments.  My mum was contracted as an outworker (clothing machinist from home) and my dad worked on the floor at a textile factory. He would bring home off-cuts, Mum would make us clothes, so naturally I got interested in making my own threads.  In High School I took ‘sewing’ more as another option to ogle teach and cruise, but fortuitously, it led me into thinking this could be a good career option. At the same time, in order to raise much needed funds for ‘afterschool fun times’,  I started my brand ‘Vampire’ and began selling units to my mates along with custom painted military army packs.  This solidified my thoughts about fashion being the career path ahead.

School ended, I had the brand, the ideas and basics of sewing but needed more, so completed an 18 week pattern and garment assembly course at AIT. This gave me the naive courage to start selling my own brand. I specialised in Men’s Urban Club/Streetwear, selling throughout NZ in boutique fashion stores. Every style was released as a limited edition, with illustrated swing tags giving the quirky background story to the design. It gave me a small insight into the industry and helped me sustain my meager lifestyle. I really appreciated the support and backing from the retailers and customers that supported the brand and myself.

After a few years, I got bored and didn’t feel the love for this and wanted a new challenge, so I got a job as a designer for Town & Country Surf Designs, which gave me much needed industry experience. This led to me going back to Vampire and adding a bit more professionalism to it. Once again, boredom started to set in, so I got a job as International Menswear designer for Canterbury International.  It was a major step up from my Kingsland flat, working from my bedroom when I needed funds or felt the need. Canterbury really opened my eyes to a large scale, clothing design and manufacturing company. It actually helped me realise, this wasn’t for me!During my time at Canterbury, I had a business idea. In order to execute it, I would have to leave Canterbury and learn how to use a computer.

I’d never used a computer before starting at Canterbury and still didn’t know any names or how any of the design applications worked. All the previous design work I had done was created by hand and old school methods. I needed to step into the 90s (even though it was 2003)! I left fulltime employment and completed a 9 month course at Natcoll, learning the basics of Freehand, Photoshop and then Adobe Illustrator. It was awesome because it gave me the basic skills and drive to get into my business idea. Even though it was like learning to walk, at somewhat of an elderly pace, I really enjoyed it and found a new lease on my creative life!

Fly was born circa 2005, with the original idea of taking existing brands and marketing them to consumers through fashion initiatives. I was in partnership with my brother in law and my role was the creative director/designer. I had no professional, real industry experience and was winging it most of the time.  All I really wanted was to be creative and use this part of myself to provide a lifestyle and income for my whānau. The fashion concept was intriguing to our clients, whom at first were sceptical on how we could make their brand ‘cool’ and even ‘fashionable’. This pitch was a foot in the door and then showing them how, more often than not, provided us with a budget to make it happen.

Building a business and working with family is hard at the best of times and eventually this got the better of me. About 3 years into the business, suffering from depression and anxiety, intensified by mounting debt, long work hours and feeling a disconnect from my wife and newborn, I had a nervous breakdown. I was suicidal. I couldn’t work for 3 months as I recovered and even after this time, I knew I couldn’t go back to working in the business.

To help with my recovery, along with spending heaps of time with bubs, I started drawing and painting. This really helped lift my mood and allowed me to see what it was I ultimately needed to do. All my life, all I have ever wanted to do is be creative. It’s what makes me inspired, driven, engaged, loving and happy. I look at the darkest moment in my life as a positive highlight, that made me see what it is I need to do.

15 years and counting as an Artist. It’s given me so many opportunities to be myself and share myself with others. Previous work experiences have helped me establish myself as an artist and I never take it for granted. I am fortunate and grateful.

What project will you be presenting at Under the Hood?

One project, which is more of a slow burning movement, TE KOTAHI, is my passionate project. Check the spiel about it in this link:

https://www.tekotahiproject.co.nz

Te Kotahi celebrates diversity and unity in all its forms. An art initiative bringing groups of people together to share their love of art to make an original art piece for their community.

The central figure for Te Kotahi is QT – a cartoon, large scale, fibreglass mask reminiscent of the kewpie doll. QT is the canvas which the group decides what to do with. I am the person who helps curate, facilitate and coordinate the project.

I’ve done about 4 of these now and each one has been totally unique and different. The first one I did was launched during covid lockdowns, when we were ‘freer’ in the North than some others across the country. The launch was held at Hihiaua Cultural Centre in Whangārei and we had a huge attendance. Each person was encouraged to participate in the creation of the artwork by selecting and placing a coloured, vinyl polka dot to the white face of QT. Over the evening QT went from a stark, clean, white face to a multi-coloured polka dot delight. Along side this was placed a large board where each person who stuck a dot to QT had to write what diversity and unity meant to them. It was lovely and encouraging to have such participation. Everyone got a buzz out of the interaction and I was beaming as this is the feeling I strive for when creating something.

What insights to your methodological approach or philosophy can you give us?  

Be authentic, be true to yourself and go easy on yourself!

I’m doing this because it makes me feel good. I have a set of values and emotions that I have chosen to run with. These are the things that keep me challenged, inspired, content, happy and full. I stay true to them.

Outside of work hours what creative projects and/or hobbies are you involved with?

It’s interesting because what I do tends to blend into hobbies and creative projects. We renovated our whare last year, so I spent the best part of the year developing and executing little bits and pieces to bring it all together. That was kind of my hobby last year, which then tends to morph into future work projects.

And finally, where to next for you? What areas of your work or personal development are you hoping to explore further? And, where can people connect with your work?

I don’t set future ‘goals’. I kind of have ideas and then pursue them if the time is right. I think living in the North can be a bit of a Catch 22. Living in Tutukaka has been great for my mental and physical health, which is what I want, but as each year goes by, my tendency to self drive a project, is slow and tends to stall.  I have lots of creative ideas that I maybe should have pursued in more detail a few years ago. When 3D printing and sculpting was in its infancy I started off down that track as I wanted to incorporate it into my art practice, but then I shifted North, saw the beaches and bush and decided to go there instead. As I mentioned earlier, I am very fortunate and grateful for this life and never take it for granted. I have met amazing people and made some enduring relationships through my work, I can’t really ask for more than that.

Register here to attend Under the Hood Design & Te Ao Māori on 25 June

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About Shane: