I am an artist, curator, lecturer, art writer, art advisor, and consultant for artists based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.
I work primarily in the arts, education and GLAM sectors. My primary role is Collections Curator for Auckland University of Technology (AUT), where I am also a part-time Lecturer in Photographic Practices and Communication Design (2022–).
I hold a Master of Fine Arts (1st Class Honours) from the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, and a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology.
I consider the key strands of artist, curator, and art writer as central to my creative practice. In particular, my work is underpinned by an interest in the cultural positions of artists – the artist as medium, citizen and public intellectual. My artwork materialises in a range of media including photography, painting, publishing, film and video. I am represented in public and private collections.
I am the curator of PHOTO OP. – a nomadic independent platform for contemporary art in Aotearoa. PHOTO OP.’s first season of exhibitions ran 2022 – 2023, in partnership with Skar Image Lab, and with accompanying publications released for each exhibition. In phase two, the platform moved to a nomadic collaborative approach to exhibition making. LONG COVID at Malcolm Smith Gallery (2025) was the first iteration.
My art writing includes essays, reviews and interviews, alongside occasional arts journalism and commentary. I am a regular contributor to Art Collector magazine (AU/NZ) alongside other platforms. I am the editor of publishing imprint PUFF PIECE, intended to profile the work of my collaborations alongside examples of my own work.
My published writing on other artists includes commissions by City Gallery Wellington, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, The Suter Art Gallery, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Art New Zealand, Art News Aotearoa, Contemporary Hum, Pantograph Punch, PhotoForum, Enjoy Occasional Journal, Art Collector, Two Rooms, Tim Melville Gallery, Art + Object, Webb’s, EyeContact and selected artists.
I have been the recipient of a number of awards and scholarships, including a Goethe Institut Scholarship for Cultural Ambassadors in Berlin (2019), a Wallace Art Award (2011), University of Auckland Summer Research Scholarship (2010-11), and the Archives New Zealand 50th Anniversary Scholarship (2009), which resulted in an ongoing project with the National Publicity Studios Archive. I have also been a finalist in the National Contemporary Art Award (2014, 2007), New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award (2016), and Wallace Art Awards (2010, 2007).
I was a Lecturer in Photo Media at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design from 2017- 2020, teaching across both contextual and studio-based programmes in Photo Media and Fine Arts, and gained official research accreditation in New Zealand’s former PBRF framework. I have also tutored at Massey University Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington and Weltec in Media Studie, Design, Fine Arts and academic writing.
I have worked for a number of respected public galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) in Aotearoa including Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Nga Taonga Sound & Vision, City Gallery Wellington, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Museum and the National Library.
In contemporary art dealer gallery contexts, I was a Gallery Associate with Trish Clark Gallery in 2024, providing freelance curatorial and strategic advisory, in-house writing and media liaison. In 2018, I was Exhibitions Co-ordinator for Two Rooms, with a focus on art writing, developing proposals, communications and publicity, client liaison, and supporting sales and gallery operations. In 2021, I hosted the STATION gallery booth representing artist Daniel Boyd at the Aotearoa Art Fair, placing key works in significant public and private collections in Aotearoa. In 2022, I supported MARS Gallery’s first exhibition at the Aotearoa Art Fair representing artist Atong Atem.
I juggle my primary roles at AUT with contract work as an independent art advisor and as a consultant for artists. In this space I have also contributed to the Browne School of Art’s Visual Art Mentoring Programme (VAMP), and mentored artists through programmes facilitated by Artists Alliance and The Big Idea. I have hosted courses and workshops in person and online, both independently and in partnership with Art.Work and Browne School of Art. I welcome enquiries on my potential services.
I have curated and delivered free tour programmes of local galleries and creative spaces towards audience development. Examples include my work with Artweek Auckland (2017-20), and as project manager and curator of the independent ART WALKS initiative which was staged across Auckland central suburbs in 2021.
I was 1st in New Zealand in Art History as a secondary school student, after falling in love with both making and writing about art – particularly painting and photography – alongside gaining formative experience working in museums. These strands of activity remain interwoven in all my work.
Selected exhibition highlights (as an artist):
LONG COVID, Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland (2025) [group exhibition, artist & curator]
THE GOVERNMENT STROKE, Northart Gallery, Auckland (2023) [solo exhibition, mini survey]
The Truth is Out There, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (2022) [international group exhibition]
SOFT LAUNCH: An Exopoetics of the Crop Circle Phenomenon, PHOTO OP., Skar Image Lab, Auckland, (2022) [solo exhibition & photobook]
Worlds Within: Photobooks of Aotearoa New Zealand, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (2022) [group exhibition]
The National Basement, Old Government House, University of Auckland (2020) [solo exhibition]
This is New Zealand, City Gallery Wellington (2018) [group exhibition]
$1/Word: A Living Wage for New Zealand Art Writers, Projects Programme, Aotearoa Art Fair (2018) [group exhibition]
This Might Be The Place, Ilam Gallery, University of Canterbury, Christchurch (2017), [group exhibition]
this is the cup of your heart, Dowse Museum (2016)[group exhibition]
PRISMISM, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington (2014) [solo exhibition]
Reflections on Lily Pond, Projectspace, Elam School of Fine Arts, in association with Auckland Festival of Photography (2014) [solo exhibition]
Selected exhibition highlights (curator):
Trouble in Paradise, Ngutu Kākā Gallery, AUT (2025) [group exhibition curator in partnership with British Council & publication art director and editor]
LONG COVID, Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland (2025) [group exhibition, artist & curator, PHOTO OP.]
Vikky Alexander, Between Dreaming and Living, 11 Feb – 4 March 2023 [solo exhibition, PHOTO OP.]
Ann Shelton, A Lovers’ Herbal, 5 – 26 November 2022 [solo exhibition, PHOTO OP.]
Air, New Zealand: Mark Adams, Caryline Boreham, Chris Corson-Scott, Jae Hoon Lee, John Miller, Tia Ranginui, and Ann Shelton, 10 September – 1 October 2022 [group exhibition, PHOTO OP.]
Matt Henry, Double Grammar Zone, 4 June – 16 July 2022 [solo exhibition, PHOTO OP.]