Sculpture Art

Initially Jan White trained as a designer, then as a painter. After a decade or so as an exhibiting painter she began to experiment with three dimensional sculptural forms working in a variety of materials such as wax and clay for casting in metal, wood, perspex, scrap metal, slate and found objects, which she assembled into signalling forms. In these sculptural works White attempts to reduce form to the barest reflection of a meaningful coda.

Themes she works with contemplate issues around the fourth dimension (the philosophical/ spiritual), exploring the purpose of a human life interpreting long-standing Western cultural values based on Neo-Platonic humanism that was developed in Italy during the Renaissance.

Her oeuvre divides loosely into two related streams:  simple organic forms that invoke a meditative state are one facet. A second area comprise thought-provoking compositions that incorporate large, highly simplified forms painted in oils, sometimes combined with found objects and/or projected video narratives.

Currently White is working on some new forms that point to the Scallop shell carried by pilgrims to the shrine Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The pilgrim carried a scallop shell on clothing or attached to a hat and would present himself at churches, castles, abbeys and homes where a modest serving of food was offered. Thus even the poorest household could offer the gift of charity. These European cultural symbols have come through the ages and can be found in depictions of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and fertility with a scallop shell as her symbol. This symbolism is evident in Botticelli's Humanist inspired work The Birth of Venus. Later the scallop was included as a symbol of pilgrimage and seeking truth in heraldry. Winston Churchill's family coat of arms includes a scallop, which points to his family’s commitment to supporting charity work. Creative practitioners also need the financial support of society, thus the scallop continues to depict the cultural role of the artist and writer who translates the culture’s values and beliefs in contemporary idiom.

As well as studying the practical arts, design and fine arts, White has an MA in Comparative Literatures and Art History. Her MA thesis examines the symbolism in the works of the radical kinetic sculptor and film maker NZ born New Yorker Len Lye. Her PhD analyses symbolic themes and motifs in the work of historical and contemporary painters comparing and contrasting these with works by Expressionist painter Colin McCahon. White is occasionally asked to write catalogue essays for contemporary artists here in NZ and abroad. She is currently the Winston Churchill Fellow writing a book analysing symbolic forms used by writer Janet Frame, sculptor and film maker Len Lye and painter Colin McCahon. White has taught Freehand Drawing, Life Drawing and Colour Theory part time at the School of Architecture, Creative Industries, and University of Auckland for the past 14 years and currently works from her studio in Auckland.