After The Show Is Over

Dale Copeland
‘After the Show is Over’
Assemblage of found objects, clowns in old Singer sewing machine carrying case.
2019

“When the circus closes the clowns sit in the dark and make sweet solemn music.

Is it like that for all of us, when our public life is over for the day? We may keep the facepaint on, but we don't have to pretend to be jolly any more.”

Dale Copeland describes herself as a mathematician-turned-artist. The one time head of a college maths and physics department and freelance computer programmer, Copeland, at the age of forty-three opted for a new lifestyle devoted to art and motherhood. She is now a 6th Dan black belt in Taekwon-Do and is still training regularly. Dale has often been referred to as the back bone of the Taranaki arts community, she is currently the driving force behind the artist collective called Virtual TART which shows their work online through the Virtual TART site www.tart.co.nz. In 2012 Dale was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts. Dale lives at Puniho with painter Paul Hutchinson.