What Next?: Scott Gardiner

Gardiner creates evocative multimedia works on canvas incorporating pigment, ink prints, acrylics, gloss and matt varnish to produce collage-like abstract compositions that reveal his passion for the sea.

Words: Victoria Hynes

WHY PAY ATTENTION?

A multiple finalist in the prestigious Wallace Art Awards in New Zealand and a regular participant at the Auckland Art Fair, Kiwi artist Scott Gardiner has just returned to his homeland after a two-year stint in Australia to stage a major show for PAULNACHE Gallery in Gisborne. Having exhibited in Sri Lanka, Berlin and Auckland in recent years, he has just been picked up by Galerie pompom in Sydney where he will present his first solo exhibition there in 2019.

WHAT DOES HE DO?

Gardiner creates evocative multimedia works on canvas incorporating pigment, ink prints, acrylics, gloss and matt varnish to produce collage-like abstract compositions that reveal his passion for the sea. The picture surface is dominated by photorealist ocean imagery overlaid

THE ARTIST SAYS…

“This new body of work has seen my focus shift from the oceans depths to the boundary between land and sea… As a surfer this notion of ‘crossing the threshold’ is a reality encountered on a regular basis, leaving the safety of the land for the cold and unpredictable embrace of the sea is often a heady mix of fear and exhilaration, satiating a desire for adventure while longing for safety… Making art, like entering a tumultuous, lonely ocean requires the desire and ability to set aside our fears, cast off the shackles of uncertainty and cross the threshold into the unknown.”