Hunter/Warrior

Di ffrench was a New Zealand photographic and performance artist and sculptor. Her work is in the collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and the Hocken Collections in Dunedin.

Born in Melbourne in 1946, ffrench arrived in New Zealand in 1963 aged 16 with her parents. While finishing her high school studies in Auckland, she encountered the work of Scottish expressionist and American colourfield artists such as Morris Louis, sparking a life-long interest in art and art history. Her passion eventually lead her to the Auckland Technical Institute, where she garnered the skills necessary to pursue a professional artistic career. Over the next twenty years ffrench traversed a broad range of mediums in order to confront and carve out new ways of thinking about gender, aggression, the environment and conflict, as well as art itself. Her innovative approach made a lasting contribution to New Zealand art, and secured her a reputation as one of the country’s preeminent feminist artists. Standing in front of ffrench’s captivating photographs, subject to their textural charm and sophisticated exploration of concepts, it is easy to see why.

‘Hunter/Warrior’ by Di ffrench on display at Jonathan Grant Gallery. For more information on Di ffrench’s photographs contact the Gallery.