Using a handheld camera in available light, he captures the iconic objects of his
New Zealand childhood - swimming pools, old mattresses in baches and caravans.
The connection I make with many of my subjects has something to do with
growing up in New Zealand in the 60s and 70s, says Pardington. They all
trigger specific memories or feelings I have from my childhood.
Perhaps because of my work as a filmmaker I see everything as a potential
story, he says. I think about the way the stains on a mattress map out its own
peculiar history, for example, which then gets me thinking about the people who
have had contact with this very intimate, but now discarded object.
Neil Pardington is of Scottish and Ngai Tahu descent. He studied film and
photography at the Elam School of Fine Arts. His work has since been widely
exhibited, and features in private and major public collections throughout New
Zealand. He was a finalist in the Visa Gold Art awards in 1998 and 1999. His
work also featured in Rukutia! Rukutia!, the inaugural exhibition of Ngai Tahu
artists.
Pardington is a director of MAP Film Productions with Stuart McKenzie and
Miranda Harcourt, and has had a film featured at the Cannes Film Festival. He also
heads Eyework Design & Production Ltd, which he founded in 1989.
Elsewhere is part of the exhibitions programme 360 – a full perspective on
Wellington Art, sponsored by Designworks. The exhibition is accompanied by a
website - www.neilpardington.co.nz. -
featuring an introduction by Lara Strongman, City Gallery programme manager,
a short story by Stuart McKenzie, and the photographs. This will be launched on
10 March.
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