the
Artist
Barry Ross Smith is a visual artist born in Kamo, Northland, New Zealand. He initially trained as a sign writer before taking his O.E (Overseas Experience) in London working as, amongst many other things, a commercial artist.
He returned home to raise a family and is a proud father of two daughters. Barry has been painting for over 30 years, had many solo shows with a long exhibition history. His works feature in public, private and corporate collections across New Zealand, Australia, Europe, North America and Asia.
The Master's Apprentice - info about this piece is in The Artist as Model
I have collected this small piece of text and I'm no longer sure as to its origin... or if perhaps I wrote it myself. I tend to write small phrases down on scraps of paper, sketches or my iPad. Something I heard or read or a thought and usually I try to ascribe the author at the moment of writing - but in this case I didn’t and the exact genesis of this text is lost.. nevertheless the words are a good response as to why painting is inspirational for me:
“…the idea behind a particular painting is not visible in the painting, in the same way an idea is not visible to the eye. The eye can see what the picture represents, but what it represents are the things that result from the process of thinking. Ideas are mental”
If this was lifted from a book; thanks be to the author. I have always felt that painting is a conceptual process; beginning with an idea long before the brush and paint are applied to canvas. My work is surreal, whimsical and full of fiction - because my mind is... I attempt to convey empirical experience, not by a visual relationship to the real world, but by attempting to create perceptual signals within a painting that convey my idea of our relationship to ourselves, to each other and to the world, and these begin in the mind, as thoughts.
Strong influences in my life have been my sister, Rosalie Smith, who was the first to really encourage me when I began dabbling with my art at a very young age. Charlie Rose, Ron Elliott and Mark Tamagni who each gave me more to think about than what I could see with my own eyes and Leanne, my wife, a constant muse and commenter upon my work as it manifests in my head as well as the studio. Without her support, conversation and questioning, I could not have sustained my practice and my misguided thoughts would have won out long ago.
The Studio
New work usually begins with a few sessions in the studio surrounded by my books, an iPad and a charcoal, pencil or brush in hand. Often days go by sketching, researching concepts, procrastinating, daydreaming and drinking black coffee.
I collect these musings in black arts books which hold the inkling of concepts to be developed into new paintings.. they are drawn in a rough shorthand stick-figure manner - a doctors scroll decipherable only to myself, but each holds the nucleus of the new painting and ideas can often combine and manifest, over several pages, into a another concept on a new page.
"Creating new ideas is intuitive, it means not knowing what you're looking for
- but knowing when you see it"
I feel a pervasive emotion surrounding some locations and/or imagery. It's like a nostalgic resonance, like a lingering remembered connection (yet often of unknown places), rich with fresh potential. This is my creative arena - by inhabiting these spaces and imagery when they present themselves and playing/thinking/feeling within them. Ideas materialize, almost pre-conceived, full and rich. My aim is to capture some of these chimera and examine them within a painted space..
Once I have pages of rough preliminary ideas some get developed as larger charcoal and acrylic sketches and drawings to progress the seed a little further. These are useful in order to realize the composition, the contents possible interpretations (which can stimulate further ideas) and how the finished painting might be tackled.
This phase is usually accompanied by a few days of ‘mind painting’ where various strategies to accomplish the final work are run thru mentally. While out driving, walking or before fully waking - I imagine beginning the painting and the application of paint layers to try different scenarios to better serve the concept, or expand upon it, to incorporate other elements. Like cooking a meal, once you are familiar with your ingredients you can conceptualize the final outcome, and I have been painting long enough now that this stage can be crucial to starting in the right direction with a work. By exhausting other alternative paint application ideas in my mind first I can decide upon the right recipe to proceed with.
A painting in the studio can take weeks to many months to complete - starting from building up the initial expressive transparent layers to the more opaque and thoughtful final strokes. As you’re painting, you’re holding the spirit of the idea in your head, attempting to render that cerebral concept in the slippery materiality of pigment.
It is the intensity of painting that with each stroke you make on the canvas you obscure the stroke below. The equilibrium between concealing and/or revealing brushstrokes creates an anxiety between what is presented and what is hidden from view - a painting is an intricate accumulation of these small decisions. From the complete expressive freedom of a blank canvas right up until the final stroke of an artwork, all choices you make coalesce to reveal something about yourself, your character and your mind.
The painting process is resolving the unresolved until no further aspects stand out as in need of attention. The mindful chaos becomes ordered and resolved but often, it is in the rendering of a mind’s idea that something of its purity is lost - you can never surpass nor even match the quality of the mind's eye.
Invites & Openings
Below are some catalogues and exhibition invitations from previous shows and competitions. Some of the catalogues are available for viewing as well as images from the opening night
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Karl Amundsen | Frances Atkins | Ande Barrett Heganm| Freda Brierley | Matthew Carter | Garry Currin | Jo Dalgety | Fiona Lee Graham | Heather Grouden | Campbell Hegan | Craig Humberstone | Lindsey Kirk | James Lawrence | John Lyall | Malcolm McAllister | Drew McRae | Ross Ritchie | Frances Rood | Merthyr Ruxton | Barry Ross Smith | Stuart Spackman | Margaret Sumich | Katie Theunissen | Rosemary Theunissen | Frank van Schaik | Sharon Vickers | Martin Ward
• 27 artists • ten sheets (A6, 105 x 148mm) of watercolour paper each • complete freedom to create whatever inspires them •
An eclectic group of up to 270 artworks from artists practicing in diverse disciplines and having fun with a small substrate. My 10 works for this exhibition are based upon 'found photos'.. That is, photographs that have at some point been discarded, were found (in garage sales or house lots) then uploaded onto the internet for a new life. The subjects are unknown and yet I find myself identifying with their slice of life portraits, posing for a future, set in the past. All works are 148 x 105mm and are mixed media on prepared watercolour paper.
opening event images by Artsdiary
Barry’s work explores the tension between humans’ exploitation and conservation of the environment. He used the new Galaxy S23 Ultra’s ground-breaking 200MP camera to capture unparalleled close-ups of his work, even capturing detail such as intricate brushwork, broken brush bristles, and surface texture. He then combined these images into the composite artworks which were used to create a series of unique artworks for each Samsung Studio around New Zealand.
For more information about this collaboration, see My Project or to see the article on the Samsung website select Samsung Article
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Pretty Invaders
There is a quiet struggle going on in the creeks behind the factories, in the long grass of new suburbs, within the dissection of land for commercial and residential use, it is a battle for survival over increasingly limited resources. A displacement of our native wildlife for agriculture and suburban sprawl and as the world becomes smaller, the need for a home for each of us (animal as well as human) is becoming more intensified. Left unchecked and with enough resources, populations grow to fill a space and if they continue to expand, those resources become depleted, scarce and the lives of the inhabitants come under threat.
For more information about some of these works see Works in a Series | The Arrival
T.E.N.T
The inaugural edition of TENT featured live exhibitions across the country and also online, and took place from Thursday 4 – Sunday 7 November across New Zealand.
25+ galleries will present an off-site / pop-up exhibition, anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand (but NOT in their own gallery space) – and at the same time, show the art online in specially created online viewing rooms.
The live exhibitions opened in the different locations across the country, from Friday 5 – Sunday 7 November, with an accompanying programme of special events, curated walks, chances to meet artists and more, which took place over the three days, where Alert Levels allowed.
For a list of participating galleries
Island Nation
Island Nation recalls the themes of western symbolist painting, alongside the techniques and drama of the 18C Romantic painters. This new series of paintings presents a variety of isolated islands with a range of familiar local habitations. In each painting the oceans, structures, mood and time of day all vary, they are a string of atomised islands in flux, connected by the oceans which encompass them and the relentless course of history.
These quiet islands evoke mystery with their ambiguous narrative content, allowing the mood and atmosphere – along with the objects and structures within them – to speak directly to the viewer. This effect is nostalgic and deeply familiar, while retaining a sense of enigma and other-worldliness. Each painting leaves evidence of human occupation without any sign of the individuals who might inhabit these spaces which is where the intrigue and mystery lies; allowing these works to be seen as metaphor for personal journey – creating a window-like view to an inner world – a place for self-reflection.
It is notable in some of these new works, large pendant like objects are being suspended into the paintings from beyond the frame. These flat and sometimes graphic objects, on one hand seem at odds with the scale and sensual painterly handling of oil in the scenes below – yet they also function symbiotically, as if to suggest these isolated group of islands are part of a much larger story.
James Brown
Foenander Gallery
images : Artsdiary
Semi-colon
Following Mental Health Awareness Week – Föenander Galleries, with Unlimited Potential Real Estate hosted an offsite exhibition to raise funds for Lifeline Aotearoa. The exhibition talks to Mental Health and was centred on the brief: ‘Semicolon’. The semicolon is an opportunity for a story to continue rather than end.
It was inspired by Project Semicolon, this message has been transposed as a symbol in the mental health world defining itself as “dedicated to presenting hope and love for those who are struggling with mental illness, suicide, addiction and self-injury”, and “exists to encourage, love and inspire”
Over 40 artworks were exhibited from gallery artists and further afield. All gallery profit was donated to Lifeline Aotearoa’s mission to change and save lives.
Michael McHugh | Andrea Bolima | Morts Reports | Jamie Chapman | Ramon Robertson | Cruz Jimenez | Matthew Carter | Belinda Griffiths | Cathy Carter | Oliver Cain | Simon Ogden | Paul Woodruffe | Jake Feast | Hamish Allan | Barry Ross Smith | Billy McQueen | Toby Raine | Adrian Jackman | David Shennan | Phil Neary | Neal Palmer | Samantha Lissette | Peter Miller | Emma Bass | Des Helmore | Joy Chang | Matt Palmer | Zoe McBride | Irena Kennedy | Robert Franklin | Siavash Momeny
My painting looks at an island as a metaphor for the individual - we may dream to own our own island; to be king of our own domain, but to be stranded in solitude upon a deserted isle is also an cliched tragedy, I enjoy this dichotomy as an internal duality of mind. We are free but bound by our own constraints of mind.
The letterbox signifies that the island is 'possessed' by someone and the pencil drawing of a house is what could be, a cottage with a view, a santuary and piece of mind. Achievable if you fully realise your potential.... your dreams and ambitions are a building that you yourself must construct.
Pocket Edition
One of the most anticipated shows on Northart’s busy annual calendar is the affordable small works exhibition, ‘Pocket Edition. Small Works for Large Walls’. This year 32 artists have been invited to variously paint or draw up to 10 pieces each in oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil, gouache, watercolour or ink, all on the same postcard-sized Hahnemühle paper. The format of the cash and carry show – covering a wide variety of styles and subjects – remains intact throughout, with sold pieces replaced with stencilled photocopies.
Participating artists are: Karl Amundsen, Michael Anderson, Frances Atkins, Martin Ball, Margaret Benn, Matthew Carter, Garry Currin, Sonja Drake, Shane Foley, Richard Higham, Craig Humberstone, Karen Jarvis, Lindsey Kirk, James Lawrence, Fiona Lee Graham, Malcolm McAllister, Salama McNamara, John Nicol, Jonathan Organ, Joon Hee Park, Jessica Pearless, Carole Prentice, Jeantine Pulsford, Ross Ritchie, Barry Ross Smith, Merthyr Ruxton, Frank van Schaik, Rosemary Theunissen, Sharon Vickers, Mark Whippy, Janelle Wills, Clare Young.
For the Birds
When I was a young boy I had an ordinary experience which profoundly influenced me. I participated in a father and son possum bust; a nighttime culling on a local farm to curb the invasive possum population. Each boy, with his father beside him and spotlighted by over a dozen torches and onlookers, had the opportunity of shooting a possum out of a tree. When my turn came, I raised the gun so that the possum was within my sights... I realised that I couldn’t pull the trigger, I instinctively knew that I’d gain no pleasure from killing this small furry creature, an act that seemed by the shining faces of those around me, was for fun. My long walk back to the car, with bonded families surrounding me, was full of shame (and also with some gratitude that my father didn’t comment upon my perceived shortcoming).
Since that early experience I have learnt and understood more of the issue of invasive introduced species decimating the indigenous native flora and fauna. The damage they inflict upon native leaves, flowers, leaf buds, fruit, eggs, birds, insects and snails. I learnt also of the quiet struggle for resources and the displacement of our native wildlife for agriculture and suburban sprawl. As the world becomes smaller, the need for a home for each one of us (animal as well as man) becomes intensified.
It is an uneven battle for survival for the native population and I have chosen a side.
The early experience and empathy felt for that lone possum illuminated far up in the branches of that tree, means that although I have taken sides against them, I take no pleasure in my service. The introduced animals which have been deemed ‘pest’ were brought here by your forefathers and mine. I joined a local community of dedicated people trying to even the battle, every few weeks I go out, check my traps and rebait the stations. It is a grim task but necessary one.
These paintings are about value and nurture, they are portraits of ambition, failure and ultimately hopefulness. Although the characters are mostly the endangered native birds of New Zealand, the scenarios aren't didactic, but rather are representations of a cast of characters striving to do better, to be better, to have more and to be more. Within the works are biblical struggles of balance and fragility, ideas of dislocation and migration - the balance between our need for development and growth and the birds same needs.
In some of the works, the depicted birds are literally migrating across the painted panel. They are depicted as moving away from the aesthetic of traditional oil painting and into the flat artificial plane of an acrylic painted blend. This mixture of media (Oil on flat plains of Acrylic) is a technique I implemented to signify the discord between the old to the new; the threat of loss from the real and organic into a dream state, a whimsy but also an aspiration for a better life.
Works on Paper
Northart’s highly anticipated annual Drawing and Works on Paper show brings together pieces by some of the gallery's most accomplished and senior artists, including Robert Ellis, Garry Currin, Ross Ritchie, Alistair Nisbet-Smith and John Nicol.
For more information about these works see Works in a Series | Landfall: here
Land's End
This latest series was born out of the artist’s visit to TiriTiri Matangi, a small island off of Auckland’s coast, the home of a wildlife sanctuary and a restoration project to save our native fauna. In the last 30 years, 100s of thousands of trees have been planted by volunteers and all predators have been removed. There have been 12 bird and reptile species translocated onto the island as well as the many different varieties that have made their own way there.
The trip inspired Smith to join the Pestfree 2050 project, a hands on project which involves walking through he bush laying traps — to eradicate all animals deemed pests.
Despite the artist’s commitment to protect these defenceless native species, Smith is torn in his undertaking saying “Possums and rabbits are simply struggling for their own existence and hold no responsibility for being relocated. All of these ‘pest’ animals were introduced by our ancestors, and they adapted quickly — to the detriment of the native birds, insects and fauna. Trying to balance the scales and put right the mistakes of descendants has lead me to create these images as ethical sounding boards. My attempt to convince myself that the killing of one species is validated, for the betterment of another species”These new paintings are described by the artist “as nostalgic visions of an imagined future, where we live in tranquility with our environment and the life surrounding us; yet the tide still rises. They are unashamedly of the Romantic movement, but in this instance I am employing romanticism as a weapon for environmentalism”. One painting in particular refers to time, (with a quirky nod to the 1960s classic movie Time Machine), it can be seen as a relentless forward motion, as today, in this time, we have a very real possibility of losing some species forever, but also of returning extinct native wildlife back to the land of the living.
Lands Edge portrays beautifully, the ideal of a precipice where we all perch, between the impenetrable forests and the endless ocean. There is wildlife here, birds and insects and marine-life, made strange by their size. But few birds have taken to the air, for there isn’t anywhere left to go. Most, like the solitary villas, are silent watchers — waiting for their restoration.
Pocket Edition
My Battlelines series began with a concern for the fate of our native species - that they are being decimated by predators introduced by our forefathers; the rabbit, possum, hedgehog and the rat.
By the year 2050 New Zealand has pledged to completely eradicate these animals that have been deemed ‘pest’.
This body of mostly small paintings (A6 postcard sized) represent individual, intimate portraits of single soldiers in a war far greater than themselves. I have attempted to remain impartial, but the titles of some of the small works (Radical Rat, Hoodlum Hedgehog, Hero Huia) reveal my loyalties.
The black and white images are of the fallen. Each an individual portrait making eye contact with the viewer, forever locked within the attributes of an old photograph. They have become mementos of a growing collection; extinct New Zealand native birds - there are, as yet, no extinct predators.
The technicolor paintings depict a landing party typically portrayed each week on the television show Star Trek. They all wear the red uniform of a security detail but have the heads of critically endangered native birds. Their fate is uncertain and their costume holds little hope for their survival without some form of intervention.
“The invasion of predators has reached a tipping point and most of our native birds are at risk, most tragically, the kiwi. If we can lift the scale of predator control to regional landscapes, including communities where people live, which has not been done before, we can win the war.”
Sir Rob Fenwick 2016
For more information about these works see: Works in a Series | The Battlelines Series
images : Artsdiary
Drawings
Northart’s highly anticipated annual Drawing and Works on Paper show brings together pieces by some of the gallery's most accomplished and senior artists, including:
Robert Ellis, John Nicol, Garry Currin, Simon McIntyre, James Lawrence, Linsey Kirk, Frank van Schaik, Frances Atkins, Alistair Nisbet-Smith, Ross Ritchie, Karl Amundsen, Barry Ross Smith, John Oxborough, Mark Whippy, Sharon Cowley Vickers,
Rosemary Theunissen - curated by Wendy Harsant.
images by Artsdiary
Archipelago
we are islands in a sea There is a saying; you can’t enter the same river twice because new water is always flowing. You could also ask, what makes an island, an island? Is it the vast expanse of ocean that surrounds it, its location next to a larger continent or the land itself protruding above the tide-line? The ocean that surrounds us has currents that emcompase the entire globe, and all of the land and islands that we can see and inhabit, are connected by the earth itself, the earth beneath our feet.
This series presents a variety of isolated islands, surveying a range of wild and domestic habitations. In each painting the oceans differ - the sky, the environment, the inhabitants, the time of day - all vary. They are a string of islands in flux; connected by change, demand and the relentless course of history and culture. The paintings can be viewed as theatrical tableau, reflective spaces, which high- light mankind’s communion with land, beast and the encompassing ocean.
Estranged
An exhibition at Depot Artspace with a group of recent MFA graduates with each bringing their own interpretation to the word "Estranged".
The group consists of: Barbara Smith, Rowan Belcher, Monica Seo, Ken Martin, Elsa Lye, Gitte Steen-Andersen, Julie Woodward and myself. Special guest artist Denise Batchelor
My meditation on the show title was to consider how removed we are from anything not immediately within our consciousness. Once I throw something away, discarded into the trash, it makes its way to a landfill or the ocean and becomes invisible to me. I sometimes seem to be living as if unaware, separate and above other life forms - unthinking of the impact my privileged life is having upon my surroundings and the wildlife that shares this planet with me. The ocean, once considered vast and unending is becoming choked with human rubbish. I decided to fabricate an oversized Orange Roughy fish from Auckland Council plastic rubbish bags (60 litre orange bags). And to bring this sculpture to life by incorporating movement with a fan inside it as a bellows to inflate it and create the effect of breathing (please excuse the Tui song in the background of the video)
For more information about this project see Projects | Estranged
See here for information about the exhibition on the Depot Artspace website
Some of the other works from the exhibition
Pocket Edition
My Battlelines series began with a concern for the fate of our native species - that they are being decimated by predators introduced by our forefathers; the rabbit, possum, hedgehog and the rat.
By the year 2050 New Zealand has pledged to completely eradicate these animals that have been deemed ‘pest’.
This body of small paintings (A6 postcard sized) represent two sides, predator and prey, as anthropomorphic soldiers in the battle for survival on New Zealand's shores, forests and undulating lands
Artist's Self Portraits - Northart
A select exhibition of artists with their self portraits.
Artists included were: Jerome Rodil, Margaret Benn, Ross Ritchie, Fiona Lee Graham, Helen Pollock, Ian Moore, Matthew Carter and Sián Davis.
My two works are 100 pieces of Me, where I cut a photograph into 100 sections and they reproduced each section as a small abstract each day, for 100 days consecutively. You can view the process as well as use a scroll button to compile the images as there were fabricated at Projects | 100 Days Project: here
The other is a paint by numbers with the numbers replaced by artist's that have inspired me. It is titled: The Master's Apprentice
Images of the opening - supplied by Artsdiary
Everyday Fictions
These paintings are 're'-representations of 'found photographs'. They are referenced by old photographs that have been sourced from garage sales, rubbish bins or roadsides and then uploaded for others to appreciate (there are entire websites dedicated solely to the collection and display of discarded photos).
They depict a slice from a moment of a life that at one point was deemed worthy of a keepsake and then.. unworthy of keeping, either because of being unintentionally disposed of, forgotten, rejected or no longer required.
Perhaps the original photographs were discarded as they were deemed a failure to 'capture the moment', were out of focus, poorly cropped, blurry or degraded by time. Perhaps because the content or person depicted was one that someone wished to forgotten.
The Works
A freezing worker literally holds a calves life in his hands, a focus on our consumer production line. This painting was a finalist in the Adams Portrait Awards and was subsequently chosen to travel the country in a touring exhibition as well as winning the people's choice award.
The link below has all of the entries that were selected
Moments of the America's Cup
For the America's Cup 2003 Cialis came to New Zealand and asked a group of artists to set up their studio on the viaduct waterfront at Waitemata Plaza. Here we were entertainment for the general public to see artworks with the theme: Moments of the America's Cup being created.
Mine is titled Heart's Racing and is my mother-in-law and father-in-law posing and watching with a celebratory bottle of champagne at the ready, it was used for the advertising and this banner.
A group exhibition where each artist was given a blank screen of 3 hinged together panels, each panel measuring 180 x 60cm. Mine is a common shed with a car restoration underway inside.
My first group exhibition with fellow artists Ben Clarke and Peter Miller. The exhibition was held at the Studio of Contemporary Art in Newmarket.
Exhibition History
2024
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Works on Paper (group exhibition)
2023
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INDEX - Gallery 138 (group exhibition)
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Samsung Studio takeover - New Zealand wide Samsung locations (collabration)
2022
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Pretty Invaders - Spencer on Byron (solo exhibition)
2021
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TENT - Foenander Gallery (group exhibition)
2020
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Island Nation - Foenander Gallery (solo show)
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Semicolon - Unlimited Potential Real Estate, Herne Bay & Foenander Gallery (group exhibition)
2019
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Pocket Edition - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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For the Birds - Foenander Gallery (solo show)
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Drawings and Works on Paper - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Small Works Salon - NKB Gallery (group exhibition)
2018
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Lands End - NKB Gallery (solo show)
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Pocket Edition - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Animals - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Rock, Paper, Scissors - NKB Gallery (group exhibition)
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Paper - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
2017
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Archipelago - NKB Gallery (solo show)
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Estranged - Depot Artspace. (group exhibition)
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MAGS Fine Art Show - Mount Albert Grammar School (fundraising exhibition)
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Pocket Edition - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Drawings - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Artist's Self Portraits - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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40th RSM Plunket Art Show - Aigantighe Art Gallery Gallery (charity exhibition)
2016
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Water & Oil - NKB Gallery (solo show)
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A Day on the Farm - Waiheke Island Gallery (group exhibition)
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Choc-a-bloc - Auckland Gallery (group exhibition)
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Member's Show - NorthArt Gallery (group exhibition)
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Landscape Without Birds - 100 Days Project
2015
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Life.Still - 100 Days Project
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Mairangi Arts Centre - 1st Prize for Painting (Art Award)
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Kiwiana Christmas - Waiheke Art Gallery (group exhibition)
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Tangled Up In Blue - NKB Gallery (group exhibition)
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Autumn Collection - Parnell Gallery (group exhibition)
2014
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300 x 300 x 300 - 300 x 300 x 300 (group exhibition)
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Art Of Courage - Longview Gallery (charity exhibition)
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The Figure in art - Uxbridge Creative Centre (group exhibition)
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10 Years - The Artist's Room (group exhibition)
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Adam Portrait Award - New Zealand Portrait Gallery (finalist - people's choice)
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Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award - Whakatāne Exhibition Centre (finalist)
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RDNZ - Percy Thomson Gallery (group exhibition)
2013
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100 Days Project, Britomart, Auckland group exhibition Treasured Art, Auction and Sale, Taupo
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5 years on, NKB Gallery, Auckland (group exhibition) MENAGERIE, The Artist's Room, Dunedin (group exhibition)
2012
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Waiheke Heats Up!, Waiheke Art Gallery, Waiheke Island, (group exhibition)
2011
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Newbies, Recent Graduates 2011. Corbans Estate Arts Centre, Auckland. curated exhibition
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Pure Gold, 50th Anniversary group show. Harrison's Gallery, Tauranga (group exhibition) Best of New Zealand, Harrison's Gallery Tauranga
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Everyday Fictions Whitecliffe College of Arts, Auckland. (MFA degree show)
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Completed Master of Fine Arts degree. Whitecliffe College of Arts, Auckland.
The Artist as Model
Paintings where the likeness of the artwork was myself. This is often due to a lack of an available model, but with these particular works the 'self' in the portrait is an attempt to capture a little character study of myself with the content and context. To express my inner self as well as my outward appearance.
Worn
91 x 91 cm, oil on board, 2007, sold
Part of my exploration into my masculine identity is to illustrate the constructed barriers of my self-protection. This self-portrait both invites and repels; the door is open but it is I that decides who may pass.
Private Property
91 x 91 cm, oil on board, 2007, sold
Part of my exploration into my masculine identity is to illustrate the constructed barriers of my self-protection. This self-portrait both invites and repels; the door is open but it is I that decides who may pass.
The Master's Apprentice
70 x 70cm, oil and enamel on board
A self portrait paying homage to the artists that instructed me with their practice, and the masterpiece creations they produced. The concept is that of a paint by numbers with the numbers being substituted with the name of an artist that I admire. The title describes the process of learning from studying the works of contemporary artists as well as the great artists of history.
Me in Pieces
18 x 18 cm x 100, mixed media on 100 individual boards, 2013
Part of my 100 Days Project.
Have a look at the full process of the project here 2013 100 Days Project . You can use the slider to construct and/or deconstruct each days progress.
Man of Steel
oil on steel with laser-cut corten, 2007, sold
This work was created by drawing an outline shape and having it laser-cut from steel and (the coat) corten steel. The figure is prepared steel painted with oils and the corten coat was roughy sanded and splashed with water to begin the oxidization process, Containers are made from corten, which was developed to eliminate the need for painting as the steel surface oxidizes, halting the rusting process below. The tarnished look pictured was created at the conception of the work, it will have rusted much more by now. A theme of my early work was the exterior dressings of masculinity of the New Zealand male (The title is ironic).
