About

Mat Taitis a South Island based comics artist and writer. He gained a BFA in painting from Ilam School of Arts and then lived in America and Britain before returning to New Zealand and settling in Motueka, where he does freelance illustration and works on his art.
His comics work has been published widely both locally and internationally, including in the comics anthologies Kramer’s Ergot (Avodah Books) and Comix2000 (L’Association). His first solo comic Love Stories won the 2010 New Zealand Comics Eric Award for Best Comic, while in 2013 the Goethe Institut published his adaptation of Richard Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman. His work displays a longstanding interest in mythology and local history, and his 2015 book, written by Mike Brown, The Heading Dog Who Split in Half: Legends and Tall Tales From New Zealand (Potton & Burton) was a natural progression of that interest.
His most recent book with writer Courtney Sina Meredith, is called The Adventures Of Tupaia (Allen and Unwin) and tells the story of the Tahitian navigator priest who travelled with Captain Cook on his first journey to Aotearoa.
He has also illustrated numerous children’s and educational material for Learning Media, Pearson and other publishers.