Christine Taylor
A Change of Perspective (2016) Ball point pen on paper
Christine Taylor has lived on a small farm in the foothills of the Kaikōura mountain ranges, South Island, New Zealand for the past 40 years. After a career in nursing and midwifery Christine is now focused on her development as an emerging artist.
A strong connection to the land and the memories it contains motivates her work. These memories became even more poignant following the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016. Through the use of non-conventional materials, such as masking tape and drafting film, Christine explores line and mark making within the parameters of contemporary drawing practice.
Christine completed an advanced diploma in Art and Creativity through The Learning Connexion, Wellington in 2018 and is currently studying towards a graduate diploma in Fine Arts. Her work is held in private collections in New Zealand.
Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga 2020
My interest in the use of everyday materials for art making prompted my choice of painters masking tape for this work. Following the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016, I used masking tape, along with other materials associated with the rebuild, in a more representational way – to depict the damage to the land and the rebuild of the state highway. Nearly 4 years later, the rebuild is almost complete. I am still using tape in my artwork, but no longer as a response to the earthquake. I now find the repetitive action of tearing and applying tape to paper allows me time for quiet contemplation.
Shared Lines: Aotearoa in Japan 2020
Torn 1 (2020) Tape and drafting film 595X450cm
Torn 2 (2020) Tape and drafting film, 595X450cm
Torn 3 (2020) Tape and drafting film 595X450cm
The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake profoundly affected the landscape and the psyches of the town’s inhabitants. The land slipped, lifted and fractured. That which seemed permanent and fixed showed itself subject to flux and change. In this work I am exploring my heightened sense of mortality. The temporary and contingent nature of being is revealed within the changed contours of the landscape.
Through tearing and realigning tape, I am both re-enacting the earthquake and addressing the rebuild. The works transparent support appropriates the materials of the architect, while also evoking the loss of solidity. Blocks of colour depict the engineer’s efforts to re-fix the boundary between the land and sea as they repair the state highway. Through the frayed edges and the torn lines of the tape I am expressing my unsettled relationship to the land, while also highlighting the resilience of the community as it rebuilds, refocuses and looks to the future.
Shared Lines: Kaikōura 2019
A Sense of Belonging (2016) ball point pen on paper, 297x420mm
Taylor has a long-term fascination with maps, and an interest in how topographic contour lines both describe the landscape and provide direction. In her drawings, the contour lines may match the topography. At other times, they show different aspects of the view, reflecting her own shifting vantage point.
Before the earthquake, Taylor had been drawing views of the mountains layered over map references, with her ball point pen – a trusty tool she has used all her life. Following the earthquake, Taylor went in a new direction with materials and processes, while still retaining her compulsion to map the land. Now, she has come to explore drawing with materials associated with the rebuild: masking tape, drafting film, and black construction paper.
These works represent time both before and after the earthquake. While different, they each create a personal memory of a moment in time. Taylor is both an observer of the landscape and someone situated within - both inside and outside the drawing.