Born in England in 1977, Jon
Chapman-Smith attended Auckland's Unitec School of Design, where he
graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Design majoring in Graphic
Design. Chapman-Smith's artistic practice is multi-disciplinary,
combining elements of printmaking, carving, and painting with a
particular insistence on the translation of the hand-created into
digital form and the utilisation of modern production techniques as
tools of a modern artistic palette.
While Chapman-Smith's work can be read
on multiple levels, it is underscored by a desire to elicit a
connection between the past and the present by emphasising the
relevance of roots, history and tradition in the face of a modern
society that places value in ephemeral objects. Chapman-Smith's
recent work draws on themes of multiculturalism and the interaction
and merging of
different cultures, while still insisting on the cultural and
ancestral importance of each as a separate component of the modern
'whole'.
In his debut solo exhibition Full Circle,
Chapman-Smith traced his own ancestry through Chinese, Italian and
Irish backgrounds, using symbolic elements from each as significant
emblems in the composition and subject matter of the works. His
latest sculpture Seasons intricately weaves Maori and
Chinese symbology into four triangular panels that join
together to form a glowing lantern pyramid.
Alongside his artistic practice, Chapman-Smith is a successful
illustrator and designer and the driving force behind design
company Fuman, based in downtown Auckland.