I AM A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST BASED IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.

This website showcases a new body of sculpture work titled Manifest, which represents a relaunch of my art practice, after a 15 year hiatus.
 
Born and raised primarily in Christchurch, New Zealand, art has been an intrinsic part of my existence for as long as I can remember. Fascinated by aircraft as a child, one of my earliest memories was an incomprehensible scribble representation of a passing jet, and throughout my subsequent years of youth this was the main subject of the art I created.
 
At high school I became increasingly interested in Pop Art, primarily the comic book-inspired work of Roy Lichenstein. I was also inspired by the photorealism work of two high school peers and spent several years in my early twenties painting nostalgic landscapes of my childhood holiday destinations. Throughout this period I found myself increasingly fascinated by the sculpture work of Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. However, at that stage I didn’t have a particular desire to move my practice away from painting, which I specialised in during my Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand). 
 
My university years saw me focus primarily on a body of Pop Art work, paintings which explored the pervasive nature of advertising. Toward the end of that study however I started envisioning a future body of sculpture work focused on the role of money in both the artist’s life and wider humanity (artworks that I still intend to create, at some point). 
 
Upon graduating, I was fortunate to forge a relationship with a New Zealand-based gallery network and enthusiastically commenced what I assumed would be a long and fulfilling career as an artist. I was involved in several solo and group exhibitions of my Pop Art work around New Zealand, but the realities of an irregular and insufficient income were a constant challenge. Unfortunately my timing coincided with the Global Financial Crisis; the collapse of the gallery forced my hand and I reluctantly had to suspend my practice and find another job to pay the bills.
 
Whilst I was no longer able to find much time for my art, I still planned to return to it before long. Around 2010 I started envisioning creating a body of artwork with objects covered in gold leaf; I had seen an amazing gilt work by prominent New Zealand artist Julia Morrison, which served as an epiphany and the inception moment for the work you now see on this website. I started to become fascinated with how a layer of gold could transform an object and the role this yellow metal has played, and continues to play, in  society.
 
What I did not realise at the point, was the arduous, convoluted 13 year journey to bring this body of work to life. I commenced a series of jobs to earn an income; starting with a low paying retail job in an art school store, before an adventurous year surveying in the Australian outback, then returning to New Zealand and finding an operational role for an Australian media company. I transferred with that business back to Sydney in 2012. 
 
Along the way I attempted a few more paintings, but found myself abandoning these, due to them not being the true artworks I wished to create. Around 2013 I started envisioning covering a shark jaw in gold (the foundational work of the Manifest series seen on this website), but was simply not in a position to bring it to life. Ultimately, I found myself in a tug of war between money and time; in the initial years I simply could not afford to do the study nor purchase the materials to produce a body of gilded sculpture work. The passing of my father in 2015 was a difficult period but ultimately proved a catalyst for change; I used some money he left to travel the following year and finally complete a gilding course in Florence, Italy, that I had been planning to undertake for some time prior. I was fortunate to learn gilding techniques under the tutelage of an expert craftsperson, with a family heritage in the trade stretching back multiple generations.
 
I returned to Sydney, found another corporate job and was finally earning enough income to start creating the gilded artwork I had planned. However time now became the issue; I found a demanding day job left me with little energy to devote to my art practice. Determined, I was able to complete several small studies then ultimately decided to throw caution to the wind, acquiring the replica Great White Shark jaw used in Article I in 2018. What I naively envisioned as a relatively straightforward work that I could compete across several months, evolved into a 5-and-a-half year odyssey, complicated by major professional and personal challenges, along with the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
Completing that work in 2023 allowed me to focus on expanding the Manifest series, with the other artworks showcased on this site. This is an ongoing body of work, with further sculptures underway and planned. If you would like to stay informed on these new artworks and future exhibitions, you can join my Mailing List or follow my social media accounts (click the icons at the bottom right of this page).
 
Alongside Hirst, Koons, Lichtenstein and Morrison, my other influences include Marcel Duchamp, Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, Chuck Close, Brett Whiteley, Michael Parekōwhai and others.
 
Thank you to my fiancée Caroline, my mother Linda, late father David, my siblings and wider family, and my friends, for getting me to this point. Likewise to Front, Back & Sides photography and Ross Henderson for your amazing talents, as well as Cindy Jurie for believing in me many years ago. And further thanks to everyone who appreciates my art.
 

BIOGRAPHY

Born 1982, Christchurch, New Zealand
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), University of Canterbury 2006
Gilding Course, Florence, Italy 2016
 
SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008
The Permeation Screenprints - Backspace Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand and RUBIX, Havelock North, New Zealand
 
2007
Permeation - Backspace Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
 
GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008
Preview -  Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA), Christchurch, New Zealand and Temple Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
 
2007
Stefan Dunlop and Nic Phillipson - Fisher Galleries, Auckland, New Zealand
Backspace come to Wellington - Fisher Galleries, Wellington, New Zealand
 
2006
The University of Canterbury Graduating Painters Exhibition - Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA), Christchurch, New Zealand
Have a Ball - Seed Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
 
2005 
The Hiddens Arts - University of Canterbury School of Fine Art, Christchurch, New Zealand
 
2004
The Painting Show - University of Canterbury School of Fine Art, Christchurch, New Zealand
 
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
 
2008
Hypnosis (mural) - RUBIX, Havelock North, New Zealand
 
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Collection of  Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA), Christchurch, New Zealand
Collection of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand