"I'd Kill to be Famous." 2009.

Packs.2009.Two.

These paintings aim to critically explore fashion media, the animalistic preening of models and celebrities and the predatory nature of the camera and culture. They are a cruel ethnographic study of the deeply rooted human want for perfection, a perfection which more often than not transforms one into a more grotesque version of their former self. The images were originally appropriated from the CHLOE advertising campaign, worked up in oil paint and finished with a high-gloss varnish.

Packs.2009.Three.

These are the final works made for the painting series Packs, exhibited in the end of year BLOW Exhibition at Massey University. There are five works in total and they are all approx. 1m by 1m. They are the result of a year long project, which addressed the preening or models, fashion photography and the undeniable animalistic qualities of humans.

"I'd Kill to be Famous." 2009.Three.

The final "I'd Kill to be Famous." photographs shown at the end of year BLOW 2009 Exhibition, Massey University. These photographs were inspired by the real murder which took place at the Johnsonville Petrol Station. In these works I have placed myself as the glamourous victim of a horrific real event. The hard, dirty, cold concrete sets off ideas about the reality of death, there is nothing glamourous about it at all. This project will most likely be continued at a later date, where I will go to other sites of crime and re-enact the event in a constructed, glamourous way.

"I'd Kill to be Famous." 2009. Two.

These photographs were part of the "I'd Kill to be Famous." series. They were taken in the middle of 2009 in Ohakune. They addressed concepts about the rural landscape being depicted as a location for crime and the role of the female victim in film.

"I'd Kill to be Famous." 2009.One.

"I'd Kill to be Famous." is one of two final year projects. "I'd Kill to be Famous." is a photographic series which aims to question and critique glamour, tragedy, murder and celebrity in contemporary culture. The work was a full year project that under went many developments and changes. The work was initially inspired by the 1973 film Badlands which was based on the true story of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, who went on a killing spree across America. Charles Starkweather modeled himself on James Dean's character from Rebel Without a Cause. Martin Sheen then played the role of Charles Starkweather in Badlands. After focusing on an American context, I turned closer to home for inspiration. The darker side of New Zealand's rural landscape became the focus with characters such as David Gray and Arthur Allan Thomas taking centre stage. Here are two early photographs from the "I'd Kill to be Famous." series. The first photo is based on the American Starkweather. The second and third photographs depict my father (who is a Criminal Prosecutor) performing the role of New Zealand killer V.S the innocent farmer.

The photographs are intentionally grainy as I was channeling a past time, a type of hazy film still quality was what I was trying to achieve. The photographs got a good response when they were shown and they were sent down to Dunedin for the Post Exhibition in 2009.

Packs.2009.One.

Murder in the Park.2009

These photos were influenced by photographer Alex Prager, based on the desolate park and the fear of 'something' happening.

Suburbia.2010.

Some recent and early stage photographs based on the suburban dream. Suburbia looks at the constructed pastels, roses and green lawns in small town New Zealand. But is everything as perfect as it looks?

Painted Murder.2010

Here are some early works from the next painting series I am going to be working on. These works combine my two final Year projects, "I'd Kill to be Famous." and Packs. I have taken the murder scene photographs, which depict myself as victim and applied oil paint as I did in Packs. These works will eventually become large scale and a high gloss-varnish will be applied to give a high-gloss, magazine, glassy finish.

Influences: Readings.

1. De/constructing Fashion/Fashions of Deconstruction: Cindy Sherman's Fashion Photographs. Hanne Loreck.

2. LONELINESS AND MULTITUDES GREGORY CREWDSON'S SINGULAR APPROACH. Amy Larocca.

3. Natural-Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture. David Shcmid.

4. HOLLYWOOD MOVIES, AMERICA STEREOTYPED. Walter Klinger.

5. The Fetishism of the Commodity and it's Secret. Karl Marx.

6. The Dynamics Behind the Advertisement. Jib Fowles.

7. Rhetoric of the Image. Roland Barthes.

8. Advertising Discourse: Selling Between the Lines. Donald Matheson.

9. Metanarratives of Stardom and Identity, from Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music, Television and Popular Culture. Andrew Goodwin.

10. Uta Barth, Gerhard Richter, and the influence of Photography on Painting. Clifford Elgin.

11.

Influences: Photographers.One.

1. Izima Kaoru.
2. Izima Kaoru.
3. Loretta Lux.
4. Loretta Lux.
5. Gregory Crewdson.
6. Gregory Crewdson.
7. Alex Prager.
8. Alex Prager.
9. Alex Prager.
10. William Eggleston.
11. William Eggleston.

Influences: Advertisements.One.

1. Coca Cola still from 1970's ad 'I'd like to buy the world a coke.'
2. Coca Cola still from 1970's ad 'I'd like to buy the world a coke.'
3. Marilyn Minter (artist) for Tom Ford.
4. Marilyn Minter (artist) for Tom Ford.
5. Karen Walker by Katie Lockhart.
6. Karen Walker by Katie Lockhart.
7. Karen Walker.
8. Karen Walker.
10. CHLOE.
11. CHLOE.
12. CHLOE.