The Chartwell Commissions: Fiona Connor

Join us for a talk with New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-based artist, Fiona Connor, whose work Walls #1–#6 and #8 (featuring Rob Gardiner), 2022 was commissioned for the Chartwell Show – Walls to Live Beside, Rooms to Own. This is the first of two Chartwell commission talks.

In conversation with the exhibition’s curator, Natasha Conland, Connor will be discussing her interest in the field of sculpture. In particular, the ability of sculpture – through casting and relief-making – to document the built environment.

In Walls #1–#6 and #8 (featuring Rob Gardiner), 2022 Connor documents seven interior walls from the Auckland and Waikato regions on which hang artworks by Rob Gardiner, founding trustee of the Chartwell Trust. Connor located these in private homes – in what she refers to as the ‘dispersed archive’. The resulting sculptures reveal the complex ways in which walls support and articulate art practice in our lived environment.

This talk will be in the exhibition space with limited numbers. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment!

Bio

Fiona Connor graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Fine Art and Bachelor of Arts in 2004, and from the California Institute of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts in 2011. Working as a sculptor Connor’s work explores the intersection between architecture, sculpture and installation.

Connor was the recipient of Creative New Zealand Arts Grant (2016); Arts Foundation Grant (2012); Creative New Zealand Professional Development Grant (2011). In 2010, she was a Walters Prize finalist.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally with recent exhibitions including: Closed Down Clubs, MAK Center, Mackey Apartments, Los Angeles (2018); Community Notice Boards and Monochromes, Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London (2018); #1, Salon Stuttgart, Berlin (2018); Object Classrooms, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2018); Community Notice Board (Cleaning Coop), Fine Arts, Sydney (2018); #8, Closed for Installation, Sequence of Events, Secession, Vienna (2019); Closed for Installation, Sculpture Center, New York (2019).