Claudia Pond Eyley
b. 1946
3 Artworks
Born in Matamata, Claudia Pond Eyley attended schools in Montreal and New York before returning to New Zealand where she studied at the University of Auckland, Elam School of Fine Arts, with Colin McCahon.
A founding member of 'Visual Artists Against Nuclear Disarmament' and also a member of the 'Association of Women Artists,' Eyley continues to be active in the women’s, peace and social justice movements. A participant in the Moruroa Peace Flotilla’s actions in 1995, Eyley's artworks and documentation of the protest were published as Protest at Moruroa - first hand accounts from the New Zealand-based flotilla (1997).
She has completed several public art commissions including 'Stokes Road' (1980); works at the University of Auckland (1984, 1990); the Auckland High Court (1991); the 'Women’s Suffrage Centennial,' Lorne Street (collaborative project, 1993); and St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ponsonby (2000).
Eyley has also made several films including: Departure and Return final journey of the Rainbow Warrior (2006, her first documentary); No Nukes Is Good Nukes! (DocNZ Documentary Film Festival 2007); Kit & Maynie (2010); and Helen (2013, with Dan Salmon. Produced for MediaWorks Helen screened on TV3 in 2013 and 2014, and the Documentary Edge Film Festival 2014). Adjunct to this documentary Eyley and Salmon published Helen Clark - Inside Stories (Auckland University Press, 2015).
She was the Artist in Residence at Auckland Botanic Gardens in 2014 and 2015, and has illustrated three children's books with author Maris O'Rouke.
See also:
Claudia Pond Eyley, ‘Pat Hanly: Flying Colours with Intervention’ (1990, relocated to interior c.2003), University of Auckland, City Campus, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Images: Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021.
