James Ormsby was born in 1957, of Ngati Maniapoto, Waikato, Te Arawa and Katimana (Scottish) descent. He graduated with a MFA from The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia, in 2001. He has participated in both local and international group exhibitions since 1998, and has been exhibiting in solo shows since 2001. Ormsby focuses on two distinct media – graphite on paper, and oil on canvas. His drawings, usually of large proportions, are detailed and finely worked, and convey his passion for that medium. His paintings can also be detailed, but are enlivened by a rich, more varied palette. In his assured and powerful works, Ormsby often places firmly in a contemporary context, motifs or imagery from Maori culture.
GALLERY
Whitespace, Auckland
PAULNACHE Gallery, Gisborne
LINKS
Artist website
Article on Bay of Plenty Polytechnic website
Article by T J McNamara, NZ Herald, 19 June 2011 re Ormsby exhibition
‘Aroha’, exhibition of Ormsby’s works in the Waikato Museum Te Whare o Taonga collection
The Psaltearoa works, May 2011, article on The Big Idea website