Queen Street

Having lived in London for six years, I was beginning to miss New Zealand so anything that reminded me of home was welcome. It was around this time I was looking for art for the walls of my new flat. This was an opportunity to represent NZ in my living space.

I hunted endlessly for New Zealand art and posters but I didn't come across the right piece. I had a vision in my head – it had to be something minimal but authentic. I liked the idea of vintage travel posters or maps, but none were minimal in their design.

I started exploring the idea of creating something myself, but an original design wouldn't have the authenticity I wanted. I remembered a postcard my mother had sent me from NZ and the stamp she had used (of course I remember the design of the stamp). So I started exploring NZ post stamps and came across a series from 1931.

I bought a scanner and found the stamp collection on eBay. After winning the auction, I got to scanning, tidying them up in Photoshop, colour correcting, selecting a printer and choosing the paper with the closest texture to the original stamps. I scanned and printed six stamps from the series in total.

I'm planning an initial, limited print run of the stamp series through Queen Street, a store I named after a street in Auckland where the former Chief Post Office was once located.

The Queen Street website uses large, high-resolution imagery of the prints, coupled with scrolling animations as you move through the page, detailing the history and go-to-print plan.

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© 2021 — Andrew Stichbury