Toby Morris + Night Eyes
Toby Morris is a New Zealand cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator and writer.
Describe the inspiration behind your kiwi.
I’m fascinated by the contrast in how familiar we are with the image of kiwi, but how hard it is to actually see them. My family does an annual camping trip at Tāwharanui, and there are kiwi living there, so every year we stay up late one night and go for a kiwi spotting walk, but we’ve never actually spotted them. We’ve heard them, so we know they’re there! But thinking about that got me thinking that it’s quite funny and unique how present they are culturally, but how elusive they are at the same time.
Describe the design process. How did your idea turn into a kiwi?
My first idea was to have full eyeballs floating in the night sky, but when I sketched it up it was a bit creepy! I wanted it to feel fun and perhaps a little funny rather than gross, so I switched to pairs of more cartoony eyes.
What's your favourite thing about your sculpture? What makes it super cool?
I enjoyed painting it – it was quite different for me as I’m usually a very 2D artist. I hope it’s eye-catching ,,, excuse the pun! I wanted to do something that’s a bit strange and curious and hopefully feels fun.
Why did you say 'yes' to joining the Kiwi Art Trail?
It’s something very different for me. It felt like a fun challenge and I’m really happy to be able to support kiwi conservation!
What do you like about kiwi and kiwi conservation? Why is the kiwi important to you?
Kiwi are symbolic, right? They’re a kind of totem for the larger cause of conservation in Aotearoa New Zealand, and if we want to live by this identity of embracing our beautiful and unique natural taonga and use that as a symbol of who we are and what we’re all about, then we actually have to do the work to preserve and protect and honour those things. If we’re putting kiwi on our emblems we’re saying this is important, this is something we cherish and want to flourish. So symbolically, if kiwi thrive, then we all thrive.
Have you ever seen a kiwi?
I have! Like I said, we’ve never managed to spot one on our camping trips, but I’ve been lucky enough to work on a couple of projects with a group called The Capital Kiwi Project who do amazing work reintroducing kiwi into Wellington city’s hills. I did a comic article about them and got to tag along with the rangers going into the hills and removing tracking tags off kiwi who had established themselves, and it was amazing to see them in the wild. I even got to see one fart while the ranger was examining it. A very cool experience.
Why do you do what you do? What inspired you to become an artist?
I’ve always drawn since I was a kid. It’s always been how I’ve best expressed myself and something I really enjoy doing. I’ve had various other day jobs earlier on but I always wanted to be able to be creative in one way or another. I get great satisfaction from making things and telling stories so I feel really lucky I can do that as a job these days.
