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Jeff Thomson

Colonial Fence – a modern day tinker, 2015

Number 8 wire, various other wire gauges, steel, wood

“The story of wire objects begins in seventeenth-century Slovakia, where thin strands of laminated iron forged by ironmongers were first used to repair broken pottery. Little by little, wire work developed into the making of everyday objects, a trade that swept throughout Europe, Russia and into America. As a trade, it never made it to New Zealand in the above form. The nearest equivalent is the number 8 wire mentality, synonymous with kiwi ingenuity and innovation. Instead of creating objects, wire was used to fence thousands of kilometres of farmland – ‘straight lines en-masse’. History has shown there are one hundred and one other uses for this iconic material beyond fencing.”

Jeff Thomson

Aucklander Jeff Thomson has been a full time sculptor since 1986, after graduating from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University, in 1982.

He has exhibited widely in New Zealand and internationally. During this time he has undertaken a number of residencies including Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia; Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, University of Otago, Dunedin and the Tylee Cottage Artist in Residence at the Sarjeant Art Gallery, Whanganui. Jeff Thomson lives and works in a large warehouse in Helensville, Auckland. He has participated in all previous headland Sculpture on the Gulf Exhibitions.

jeffthomson.co.nz
Represented by Bowen Galleries, Wellington