“My creations are the mixture of my kiwi lifestyle, my Hungarian heritage, my curiosity about Māoridom, my experience in architecture, the passion for travelling and my feminine approach.”

My name is Eszter Szigethy. I am a Hungarian born Kiwi. Back in the day I studied architecture, learnt how to go through a design process, how to think three dimensional, the importance of colours, balance and details.

After finishing university, I was not ready to sit in an architecture office, so I went to discover the world and worked as a freelance tourist guide. I travelled through Africa, Asia and Europe – I was always curious about cultural diversity, indigenous art and the way people think about the universe. When I felt that constant travelling had come to an end, I settled down and I found my passion in jade carving in Aotearoa.

I always loved to create as a child, tried different forms of medium and ended up living on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand and learnt how to carve Pounamu. I was taught the basics by Ric Moor near Greymouth, then I was lucky to learn for a couple of weeks from Lewis Gardiner in Rotorua. Both Pākehā and Māori teachers are master carvers in my eyes.

I am based in Auckland and recently became a mum of a curious baby boy. Other than my family, I am passionate to learn more about Māoridom and I started to learn Te Reo Māori. I like to listen to psychology podcasts and news from all over the world while carving. I carve each piece with love and I get quite excited about personalised orders, especially when I get the freedom to create something totally new and one-off.