Biography
Chris van Doren is of Niuean, Samoan and Dutch descent. As a contemporary Pacific artist, Van Doren uses mediums such as copper, steel, wood and hard stone creative practice to explore shapes, island motifs and storytelling through the lens of a Pacific islander that grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Van Doren values the process that is of value and the inner dialogue that is had with oneself, noting that “it’s the act of creating that encourages new ideas and concepts.” He has has taken part in numerous exhibitions and symposia in Aotearoa and abroad. In 2009 he traveled to Taiwan to take part in Taitung Austronesian Cultural Festival in 2009, which was a wood carving symposium. While there he collaborated with indigenous artists from tribes of Taiwan and the wider Pacific from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and New Caledonia. Van Doren works were recently on display at The Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition at the Auckland Botanical Gardens in 2019 and 2021 . Currently he resides in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland at the Pacifica Art Centre as Artist in Residency.
Selected Exhibitions
Tautai Trust Gallery, Auckland, Oh, my Oceans (Group show), 2020/2021
Artis Gallery Auckland, A place to stand, Auckland (MANZ group show), 2021
Corban Arts Estate, Henderson Auckland, Seven sculptors, (Group show), 2021/2022
Shepperson Centre, Waiheke island, Auckland, Dancing with myself (Group show), 2022