Chris van Doren
Distinguished sculptor of Niuean, Sāmoan and Dutch descent.
Fale-ship Home Residency 2020Chris’s works have evolved over the years and still retain the essence of the vaka, the land and sea with flow movement, lines and form. Growing up in Aotearoa also influenced his practice, such as the beaches, landscapes, beautiful sunsets and memories of swimming in the Moana.
Meet Chris van Doren
Tamaki Makaurau based artist Chris Van Doren has taken part in numerous exhibitions and symposiums across Asia-Pacific and has been a three-time finalist in Aotearoa’s World of Wearable Arts. Chris is currently a resident artist at Corban’s Estate Arts Centre, he uses methods and skills he developed in his background as a panel beater to work with unconventional materials when creating his sculptures.
“I feel my creative process stems from when I made a workspace under our family house in Waiuku when I was a young man. I created things like huts in the forest, from material sources found in the neighborhood, like bits of wood and steel from empty houses and other things I could find..”
- Chris van Doren
Chris van Doren - Creativity Session
Chris shares motion images from his workshop of his progress on the Niuean katoua he has been carving. We get insight into the tools and techniques he uses when sculpting.
Chris van Doren - Concepts
Chris shares a montage his concepts, ranging from previous works to his works in progress. Here he highlights his techniques and methods he employs to achieve a smooth and effortless finish to all his sculptures.
Fale-ship Home Residency 2020Titled “FIRE” , Chris’ final work focuses on the process of making a traditional Niuean Katoua club. He began sculpting the Katoua in the first lockdown and was able to take the time during his Fale-Ship to complete it.
Watch Chris make this incredible and rare piece of Niuean taonga here!
This video features many Chris’ large and small scale works he has created over the years. Chris communicates his deep knowledge and skill for sculpting traditional art forms. Here we see a number of his works in progress come to life.
Q&A Talanoa with Chris and Rosanna
Rosanna and Chris talk about his unique source of inspiration during this Q+A Talanoa.
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