Andrea du Chatenier
“Du Chatenier regards the rich and varied history of ceramic production not as an impediment but a reservoir from which to conduct new experimentation. Chief ally in her arsenal is a deep infatuation with the visual dynamics of colour. Her palette draws redemption from the confectionary shop rather than native bush walk and invites us to riot and swoon under the undue influence of sugar over-load. The gobby forms in iridescent colour that characterise her recent output are a rude retort to serious, intellectual cool. There is no little local precedent for such idiosyncratic clay objects. Du Chatenier is more aligned with the drug crazed encounters of Sponge Bob Square Pants with the architectural musings of Piranesi. Her ceramics revel in their material condition and tug away at those cerebral recesses where phantasmagoric dreaming and the imaginative doings of Dr Seuss still lurk”.
Richard Fahey, 2021 (Excerpt from exhibition text, ‘What Do Ceramics Want?’)
Andrea du Chatenier is a sculptor turned ceramicist. She holds a BFA from Auckland University and a Masters of Fine Arts from RMIT, Melbourne. She has received numerous grants and awards for her accomplished and challenging work, including selection for the Sao Paulo Biennale, the Wallace Arts Trust Vermont Award, and the Portage Ceramics Residency Award at Guldagergaard, Denmark. After completing the Tylee Cottage Artist Residency at the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui in 2004, Andrea set up studio in Wanganui. Her solo exhibtion ‘Eigenleben’ was presented at the Sarjeant Gallery in 2020. And her first solo exhibition at The National in 2021.
> View Exhibition ‘Terrestrials’ 2023
> View Exhibition ‘Eigenleben’ 2021