Christian Thompson, Ellipse. C-type print, edition of 5, 100 x 100 cm. 2014.
Artist in residence Christian Thompson in discussion with Chelsea Nichols, curator of Modern Art at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Christian Thompson has a multidisciplinary practice, engaging mediums such as photography, video, sculpture, performance and sound. His work provocatively addresses a myriad of themes, from the sensorial replication of memory, the mythology of landscape, to the critical parody and deconstruction of the identity of the artist.
Thompson has just completed his doctorate through the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, and is Te Whare Hēra’s inaugural artist in residence.
Left: Chelsea Nichols. Right: Christian Thompson. 2014. Photograph by Bonnie Beattie.
Chelsea Nichols is an art historian whose collection-based research addresses the relationships between international and New Zealand modern art in the period between 1900-1970. A particular area of interest is in histories of collecting and museum display, especially in the overlaps between art and other disciplines. Current research includes examining the relationship between art and natural history exhibitions, the influence of Surrealism on New Zealand art, and representations of the body in modern visual culture.