Jeff Thomson
“ Corrugated iron is Jeff Thomson’s life; he can make it dance and sing and tell us things. His sculptures say a lot about New Zealand and the world beyond.”
Sculpture
We love...
Jeff is such a lovely guy. That is the first thing you feel when you meet him. He could be a humble neighbour, a bloke from the bowling club....just a normal guy. Then you start talking about his path of becoming an artist, and what is involved in creating the pieces. And then you realise you are meeting greatness. He is amazing. International experience, recognition in various parts of the work, busy with public and private commissions from all over the world....and yet he is still like the guy from next door, who always has time to talk to you. Wow. ARTFORM.
Feature
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 on 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 the 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.
Out of the letter boxes emerged the large body of work for which 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, in Jeff Thomson - Any Old Ironby Richard Brimer