Jeff Thomson
Mesh, 2021
Perforated aluminium, paint
3500 x 3500 x 5400mm
In the middle of the sculpture trail is a curious new structure: a site-specific sculptural project by artist Jeff Thomson. Thomson is recognised both in New Zealand and internationally for his experiments with corrugated iron such as the colossal gumboot in Taihape and the corrugated iron Holden station wagon now residing in Te Papa’s collection.
But throughout his career Thomson has also demonstrated an enduring interest in the concept of shelter, exploring the spaces of familiar places such as ‘home.’ In doing so, Thomson has used corrugated iron in stacked layers, flat sided panels and woven strips to build up form. From utilising roofing componentry, he moved to sculpting complete houses as in his Show Homes of 2002 and 2003 to the small Whare of 2011.
With Mesh, this consideration of shelter finds an elegant expression in brightly painted perforated aluminium. Thomson comments: “I like taking away the function of the material…to protect us from the elements, so filling it with holes destroys this.” Visitors are invited to interact with this down-scaled iconic bach, stepping inside its hole-pierced walls with the perforated roof providing only symbolic shelter. There is a playful approach to the removal of the boundaries we are accustomed to between interior and exterior worlds; instead, the outside world travels in and the inside world is glanced upon from the outside perspective. More than a decorative finish, the multiple paint layers are crucial to the vibrancy of the sculpture and have taken months to build up, linking to Thomson’s training at Elam Art School as both a painter and print-maker.
Accompanying the structure, there is also the ubiquitous water tank, previously used by the artist to float curved forms, or to house marine creatures that one views through portholes. Meanwhile the letterbox harks back to Thomson’s earliest projects in the 1980s where he spent time walking long distances and putting hand-written advertisements into rural letterboxes, inviting home-owners to commission him to make sculptures specifically responding to their house or property. There is an interesting notion of returning ‘home’ here in an artistic sense, as it is this rural walking that introduced Thomson to roadside paraphernalia and to the potential of corrugated iron as a workable sculptural material.
Always experimental, Thomson continually searches for diversity in ways of working, noting that he doesn’t feel precious about the process and methods he uses to make art. Describing his workshop as a living museum, his house is situated within the centre of his studio and he enjoys the creative process working with various metals as he cuts and folds, weaves and knits, moulds and stacks, braids and twists, imagining and realising his sculptural dreams.
More from this artist
Artist Bio
Jeff Thomson is rather like a modern day Abel Tasman or Captain Cook. He sails freely into unknown seas, making important discoveries en route. "Simply by working with a new material he has enlarged our world." He has almost single handedly taken corrugated iron off the roof and put in on the wall and the pedestal.
And, by the way, he has put it back on the roof again!
Born in Auckland and growing up in Castor Bay on its North Shore a rather shy but outdoors orientated youth left handed and mildly dyslexic, Thomson has become without doubt the Corrugated Iron Man of Australasia.
From an early age he showed considerable promise, developing an ability to draw images quickly with pencil rather than using the written word. This artistic flair was soon picked up and nurtured. When he went to one of Auckland's most adventurous secondary schools, with a strong "Education through Art" tradition, it was clear that the next step was the Elam School of Art attached to the University of Auckland.
Here the young Thomson was exposed to a series of horizon-expanding situations that culminated in a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1981. Curiously his major focus as a student was not sculpture but painting and printmaking.
While taking a break from his art studies in 1980 Thomson found himself at Portobello, 20km out of Dunedin, living in a small seaside crib. It was during this time that a profound change occurred in Thomson's approach to life, art and environment. It came about through the discovery of an ancient pursuit - walking.
While walking the rural and urban miles Thomson started observing and collecting the wealth of highway paraphernalia that he found on our roadsides. These highway experiences culminated in the rural letterbox sculptures, the first body of Thomson's works to gain national recognition by a diverse range of New Zealanders. And it was through this letterbox series of works that Thomson came face to face with his chosen material - corrugated iron.
Literally out of the letter boxes emerged the large body of work for whcih he is now known on both sides of the Tasman.
Corrugated iron animals, birds, cars and people: these works have established Jeff Thomson fairly and squarely in the memory banks of most New Zealanders and many Australians.
I reiterate without fear of contradiction, that he is the undisputed Iron Man of Australasia.
Foreword/Four Words: The Corrugated Iron Man
John F. Perry Director The Bath House Rotorua's Art and History Museum, Jeff Thomson - Any Old Ironby Richard Brimer
