"Janmarie Thompson’s works dance with the reality of individual human frailty, insignificance and courage in the face of relentlessly grinding and unfailingly unpredictable forces of nature. The works stand in awe of geological changes on a massive scale, and human attempts to measure define and map their features at any given point in time.
Collision and uplift, weathering and erosion constantly force change in the landmass, dissecting, disrupting, reorganizing and softening the landscape. The Geoscientific observer charts topography, magnetism, gravity, conductivity, amplitude and resistivity, and seeks to understand and predict: what next?
Thompson’s abstract exploration of geomorphic processes, combined with her enquiring approach to substrates and mediums, produces work energized with experimentation and unexpected outcomes. We see levels and layers, reactions and interactions and an alchemy of time and pressure."
Brett Smout, B.A. Hons (MQU), PhD (Sydney).
Janmarie Thompson has been practising since 2006. Her most recent solo exhibition “Zealandia” was held in September of this year at BSA Gallery and she regularly exhibits in group shows in the Auckland area. She was selected as a finalist for the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award in 2017. Her methodology blends aspects of painting, drawing and printmaking and the work evolves in series migrating through a principal idea. Experimentation with diverse paper substrates produces unintended outcomes, integral to the works. Thompson’s work is fueled by a passion for the youthful, exuberance of our landmass and research into the geoscience of Aotearoa New Zealand
In 2017 she set up Studio 6, an artists’ space in the Sunday School Union heritage building on Queen Street, Auckland Central. A bright, versatile studio space that has offered opportunities to conduct artist run initiatives in conjunction with Art Week and White Night among others. Thompson is an exhibiting member of many visual arts based initiatives.
Thompson’s works are held in private collections in New Zealand and overseas.
Exhibitions
Solo Zealandia, 2018, BSA Gallery, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Return Journeys, 2015. Railway Street Studios, Newmarket, Auckland.
Group Woodcuts, Studio Printmakers, Lakehouse Arts, Takapuna, October 2018
Studio Printmakers showcase, Estuary Arts, Orewa, October 2018
Studio Printmakers, Hallway Showcase, Lakehouse Arts, Takapuna, July 2018
Invited Artists Group Show, October 2017, NorthArt, Northcote, Auckland
ARTWEEK October 2017, Studio 6, Open Studio Exhibition
WHITE NIGHT, Studio 6, 323 Queen Street, Auckland
Paper, April 2017, DEMO, Eden Terrace Auckland
Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Whakatane, 2017
Summer Show, January 2017, NorthArt, Northcote, Auckland
Broken Lines, December 2016. Browne School of Art
Members Show, July 2016. NorthArt, Northcote, Auckland
(it's pretty open) A Drawing Show, April 2016. DEMO, Eden Terrace, Auckland
Painting 4, 2015. Browne School of Art, Grey Lynn, Auckland.
Painting 3, 2014. Browne School of Art, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Painting 2, 2013. Artstation/Toi Tu Studio One, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Glass 2012. Artstation/Toi Tu Studio One, Grey Lynn, Auckland
Memberships
Studio Printmakers, Lakehouse Arts, Takapuna, Browne School of Art, Grey Lynn, NorthArt, Northcote, Depot Artspace, Devonport, Artists Alliance, Ponsonby
Member of Print Council Association NZ. PCANZ is a member run, national, non profit organisation that promotes contemporary fine art printmaking. Through workshops, exhibitions, collaborations and exchanges between members and national and international associations