CHRIS VAN DOREN

Born of a Niuean mother and a Dutch father, Chris Van Doren grew up in and around Waiuku and in setting out for further study, he gained his trade’s certificate in Panel Beating. Today the former panel beater works full-time at his art practice and his sculptural works have been greatly admired by a wide audience,including the many people who saw his work at the recent Pasifika Festival.

Chris’s copper and steel sculptures are navigational studies that investigate the idea of movement and in doing so he makes reference to the ancient seafarers in the Pacific. They also stretch to investigate his own movements in the present time. One of his most recent artworks ‘Turtle’ maps his personal return journey from Niue in April 2004.

John Dory

The copper and steel panel is beautifully crafted to emanate movement through its directional lines. He has related himself to the characteristics of the turtle; the hard shell that is crucial for survival is also crucial for Chris, “I need a hard shell to weather the financial storms, to survive as a practicing artist.”

Most fascinating is the composition of the turtle, shaped like a pointed arrow. It directs the viewer’s sight to look ahead and move on into the future, or as Chris put it “To look ahead at how things could be and not at how they are.”

Shark

This self-taught artist acknowledges creative guidance from the likes of Fa’afetai Amituana’i, Alex Seton, Fatu Feu’u, and Isabelle Staron-Tutugoro.Chris’s goals include finding more opportunities to obtain commissions for his work which in turn would allow him to spend more time with his son whilst pursuing his art full-time.