The Skullduggery Art Show at Wellington's Thistle Hall is an exhibition - but not as most people know it.
Those who are familiar, however, made sure they were at the front of the line on Monday's opening night.
Lance Lones on opening night. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The show is in its fourth year and runs for a week in the lead-up to Halloween. It's the brainchild of Kate Jorgensen and Paul Tobin - the duo behind the creative endeavour, White Cloud Worlds.
This year features about 60 artists whose pieces range from two-metre tall sculptures, to fine watercolours, and 3D model creatures - pulling it all together can be a bit of a scramble.
A piece exhibited in the Skullduggery Art Show. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"Even though we invite the artists at the beginning of the year, we actually have no idea what we're going to get until the day before the show opens," Tobin said.
"Everyone drops their art off and it's like Christmas time - Halloween kinda Christmas for us - and we tear everything open and we've got less than 24 hours to curate and put on the whole show.
"It's super fun but it is kinda crazy."
Paul Tobin. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Jorgensen - a die-hard Halloween fan - said the theme - familiar to many but broad in scope - draws a different kind of crowd.
"People kind of get it right? They know they're going to get something a little bit spooky, a little bit creepy, a little bit fun.
"And that's a really cool thing about the whole idea, is you can go a little bit dark and scary or ... really cute, and light and fluffy, and candy-coated with Halloween."
Kate Jorgensen. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The artists' brief was anything supernatural and spooky, Tobin said. "Last year, we had two tattooed prosthetic arms, which is kinda out there."
Cheryl Ong - an art director at a video game company - said it was her third time exhibiting in the show, which she saw as a chance to flex her creative muscles.
Cheryl Ong. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"My style, personally, tends to be a little bit cute, I don't delve into horror that much.
"[So] it's the one time of year where I actually get to a make a piece of art for myself. I get to decide what the brief is."
This year, she drew inspiration from birds to create her India ink and watercolour piece, 'Harbinger' - an armour-clad figure that was "maybe a little bit creepy, but ... inspires intrigue as well".
Cheryl Ong's piece, 'Harbinger'. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Modeller by trade, Joaquin Loizaga said the show was a calendar highlight.
"This show, every year, is the thing that we look forward to most as artists in Wellington. We are all professional artists, but this is where we get to do our own thing ... it brings a huge community together."
Joaquin Loizaga. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
He said this year's piece, 'Slow Boat,' - a pirate ship - was made from laser-cut vinyl, stainless steel pins, thermoformed plastics, 3D-printed resin, and a bit of wood he found in the workshop.
"It goes with the whole sort of, skull, Jolly Roger theme.
"It's sort of morphed into something more akin to ... space, fishing boat. It's sort of what happens, when you get stuck in."
The Skullduggery Art Show is free and runs for a week, ending with a costumed life-drawing on 26 October. Jorgensen and Tobin also offer a guided tour of the pieces on Friday 24.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
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