I am an artist based in Christchurch, New Zealand. I also work as a land surveyor.
Originally trained as an engineering surveyor, I graduated from the University Of Canterbury School Of Fine Arts majoring in sculpture. I also practice other art forms such as collage, photography, film and sound. My work has appeared in several solo and group shows in Christchurch and abroad since 1997.
Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga 2020
This is a result of recent experimentation in my collage practice. For sometime, I have been using strips of images, laying them 'flat'. I have tried to evoke a sense of depth and movement on the work's surface; a 'flow' from coordinates on the left to coordinates on the right, or vice versa. I decided to incorporate the printed words that are associated with these images in the books that they are from, detail from the reverse. The title of the work was inspired by a Burroughs-type cutup process with the words that I typically keep as notes and poems when I make a collage.
Country, snakes (2020)
Shared Lines: Aotearoa in Japan 2020
Refuge I (2020) paper, balsa wood, recycled cotton & stone
210x297x15mm
Refuge II (2020) paper, balsa wood, recycled cotton & stone 210x297x15mm
Refuge III (2020) paper, balsa wood, recycled cotton & stone
210x297x6mm
My work is inspired by natural, man-made and metaphysical concerns. I am fascinated by bricolage and how disparate objects can seem to ‘want’ to fit together, producing new ‘meanings’. Ideas evolve through drawings, collages, maquettes and material trials.
My material choices are an instinctive and playful process, made with consideration of their suitability for the concept, they also guide the outcomes. I use various conventional materials such as wood, metal, paper, found objects but have also used soil and plant fiber. I prefer to use ecologically sound methods and I recycle materials where possible, these materials are rejuvenated and provide temporal qualities. My practice is process based; I prefer traces of its evolution to be a part of the texture. I think of sculpture as consisting of an interdependent relationship between interior and exterior structures. My works are propositions.
Shared Lines: Wellington 2017 / Shared Lines: Kaikōura 2019
Unsupervised Learning I, II & III (2017)
Steel and Lacquer, $450 each
I’ve always enjoyed the tangible in art practice, from the smell of materials to the warmth left in my hands.
For the last six years I have been developing a certain form of lattices and networks. I have been encouraging chance and irregularity, which I discovered is easier in thought. I like to draw on all senses to drum up ideas; listening to music, observing, walking and other activities seem to conjure ideas that I then evaluate and progress.
Originally trained as an engineering surveyor, I am also a graduate of the University Of Canterbury School Of Fine Arts majoring in sculpture. I also practise other art forms such as collage, photography, film and sound. My work has appeared in a number of solo and group shows in Christchurch and abroad. I have always enjoyed the sciences, particularly physics and biology. Mechanics, electronics and sound all feature in my work.
In my second job as an engineering surveyor, I am been working on the NCTIR project, re-connecting Kaikōura and further north by rail and road. This project deals with networks, steel, links connections, the repair of existing networks and the growth of new ones. With the NCTIR work, I have been using innovative techniques such as drones and data transfers. My works for this show draw upon this.
I’m concerned with evolution, anthropology, innovation and the landscape. I enjoy exploring form, texture and colour in my work. I am looking at the boundaries of perception and interpretation. When do we see an object and when do we comprehend it? I visit Nietzsche’s Dance Floor as often as possible, getting ideas from mis-perception and chance. I am fascinated by the idea of an object that can express practical and conceptual function, through its visual and tactile features – be they mechanical or otherwise. My drive is to develop these inchoate problems. Ideas appear as abstract thoughts from various starting points, and then evolve through drawings, collages, maquettes and material trials. Through rational and intuitive reckoning, I construct prototypes in response to my experiences and corresponding ideas.