Jeffrey Thomson

Jeff Thomson (born 1957 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand sculptor best known for his colourful sculptural works fabricated from corrugated iron. These range in size from a life-sized giraffe to gallery-friendly wall hangings.

Education

Thomson was encouraged and inspired to become an artist by his art teacher Paul Dibble. Thomson studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland where he focused on painting and printmaking, he left in 1981 having obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 1982 he went on to study at Auckland Teachers College. After leaving teachers college he taught in secondary schools until 1986 before becoming a full time artist.

In 1982 Thomson had his first solo exhibition at the Auckland dealer gallery RKS Art, where he exhibited his mailbox sculptures. At this exhibition he met Jenny Neligan who booked him for an exhibition at her Bowen Galleries in Wellington in 1984. Neligan went on to become his gallerist for more than 30 years. For one of the mailboxes in this exhibition he had used corrugated iron for the first time to create a silhouette of a cow. A Wellington couple attracted to the corrugated iron mailbox commissioned three corrugated iron animals for their garden, this was the start of the long line of animals for which he has become well known.

In 1985 he was commissioned by James Wallace to produce a herd of elephants' silhouettes in corrugated iron to act as a fence to replace trees that had been felled without consultation by a neighbour. Before they were installed permission was given for them to be temporarily installed in Albert Park, where they became a major draw card for the public.

In 1990 Thomson re-clad a 1974 HQ-Holden with his signature corrugated iron. He had rescued the iron from a recycling yard following a fire that gutted the Criterion Hotel in Napier. The resulting vehicle was roadworthy and toured the country before finally becoming part of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa permanent collection. In addition to the Holden Thomson has clad two other cars a Morris 1000 and a Mini Minor.

In 2008 he was the Artist in Residence at the International Arts Festival held at the Château de Padiès in the South of France. While there he put his metal rolling and corrugating machinery to a new uses. He sandwiched a layer of hay between wire mesh and then rolled and corrugated the sandwich as if it was roofing iron.

Public works and commissions

2000 Gumboot, Taihape 2002 Massey Leisure Centre and Library, Westgate Shopping Centre, Auckland 2003 Shells, Lambton Quay, Wellington 2004 Plains, Northland Mall, Papanui Christchurch 2010 Words, Birkenhead, Public library, Auckland 2010 Helensville Toilets, Helensville, Auckland 2011 Milford Panels, Milford Village Plaza, Auckland 2012 Kaipara Panels, Helensville, Auckland 2011-2013 Noise Wall, State Highway 16, Auckland, commission by New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi