A local artist is showcasing her talent for costume design developed in the film industry with a piece on display at Archibald's - The Art Place.

Upper Hutt's Nadine Jaggi was a film technician for blockbuster films including District 9, Avatar, and Prince Caspian.

She recently finished work for Weta Workshop on Peter Jackson's latest film. Now she is relishing the opportunity to work on her own creative costume ideas.

"It's exciting because I get to do my own thing 100 per cent," she said.

Nadine grew up in Lower Hutt before the family moved to the Akatarawa Valley.

She always had a fascination with art. Whenever her family went out, her mother would give her and her sister a pencil and paper to draw on.

After graduating with first class honours from Massey University with a bachelor of design, she gained practical experience from a short stint in Europe working at the Capital Theatre in Switzerland.

"It was a thrilling rush- around job, involving creating textile designs and sourcing and dyeing fabrics, and I was able to pick their brains too."

Returning to New Zealand, she found her niche in the costume department at Weta Workshop in Miramar.

Working on her own project after work hours, she found success in 2008 when she won the supreme award at the Montana World of WearableArt. And she hasn't ruled out entering the competition again.

After working on Peter Jackson's latest film earlier this year, she now has an opportunity to work on her own ideas, which included Tergus per Mico or "Leather with Sparkles."

Leather is her medium of choice and she enjoys experimenting with different leather techniques such as wet moulding, embossing and carving.

"My costume is made using natural russet [embossing leather], which is a skin- coloured leather."

- Upper Hutt Leader

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