CHRISTINE WEBSTER<\/strong>, born in Pukekohe. 1982, 84, 88 QEII Arts Council Grant. 1989 Polaroid Small Projects Grant, Offenbach am Main, Germany. 1991 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, UO, Dunedin. 1994 Acting HOD, ASA SoA, Auckland. 1995 part-time tutor, ASA SoA. Arts Council Toi Aotearoa Fellowship, Auckland. 1996-97 part-time tutor, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland. 1996 CNZ Professional Development Grant. 1997 CNZ Arts Development Grant. 2003 July-October, MFA Exchange, Elam SoFA, UA. 2002-04 MFA, Glasgow SoA, Glasgow. 2004 appointed Course Leader, BA (Hons) Photography, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Lives in UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine Webster\u2019s photography is based on fiction rather than documentary. It unsettles and disturbs with its probing into society\u2019s accepted boundaries. Her interest lies in working with others to explore the human psyche \u2013 people\u2019s different personae, fantasy, identity, gender stereotypes and sexuality. Webster\u2019s models take on new personae to challenge viewers to untangle their entrenched thoughts on (often) moralistic situations. The subjects in her photographs boldly meet the viewer\u2019s eyes in an overt departure from the traditionally averted gaze of women portrayed in paintings of yesteryear. The images are reminiscent of movie stills, in that the image captured seems to be just one moment stolen from a much longer \u2018story\u2019. Webster is intrigued by \u2018the human condition\u2019, by the universal anxieties that beset us and by the veiled layers of people\u2019s identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1980s, Webster\u2019s series \u2018New Myths\u2019 focussed on a questioning of the balance of power in sexual relationships and this evolved in the early 90\u2019s into an exposition of the historical connections between violence and sex, using a male nude model to counter the traditional art historical depiction of the female nude. In 1994, Webster staged a landmark exhibition with her \u2018Black Carnival\u2019 works \u2013 60 lineal metres of life-sized cibachromes that surrounded and confronted the viewer from the gallery walls. Their sheer size was daunting, reversing the usual \u2018viewer\/subject\u2019 roles, and the content offered little comfort, depicting masked or disguised men and women in roles that brought the viewer face to face with scenes contrary to society\u2019s \u2018norms\u2019 \u2013 a pregnant woman dressed in just a tutu; a male nude half-dressed in a bridal gown; a nude woman wearing a bunny head. Webster seems to specialise in showing us images that we don\u2019t expect to see, and that are likely to discomfit us when we meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over subsequent series her themes included sexual fantasy (Possession & Mirth), transcendence \u2013 in a series working with New Zealand dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright (Circus of Angels), a study of the male\/female (photographs of boxers and fabric) (Quiet), and a capturing of the total and innocent abandon that sleep brings in photographs of her baby son, in a \u2018take\u2019 on traditional portraiture and with an echo of the reverence of historical, religious paintings (Fugue).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, go to\u00a0www.christinewebster.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Webster\u2019s excellent site with images from all series, CV and numerous essays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LINKS<\/strong>
.\u00a0Christine Webster<\/a>\u00a0artist website with images from all series, CV and more
.\u00a0Christine Webster<\/a>\u00a0page of photographs from \u2018The Hunt, The Seduction, The Kill: a play of desire\u2019
.\u00a0Christine Webster<\/a>\u00a0essay on exhibition of photographs of Douglas Wright, 2002, University of NSW site
.\u00a0Christine Webster<\/a>\u00a0biography and 2 images on PhotoForum site
.\u00a0Christine Webster<\/a>\u00a0review on e-zine \u2018NZ Art Monthly\u2019 of \u2018Quiet\u2019 exhibition, Adam Art Gallery, 2004<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GALLERIES<\/strong>
To be advised<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/strong>
Art New Zealand 29 \u2018Christine Webster\u2019s Large Colour Photographs\u2019, Sheridan Keith, 1983
New Zealand Artists: A Survey of 150 Years\u2019, Anne Kirker, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1992
Art New Zealand 68 \u2018Process\u2026 Procession\u2026Possession -Christine Webster\u2019s Black Carnival\u2019, Ewen McDonald, 1993
Art New Zealand 83 \u2018Circus of Angels \u2013 Recent Work by Christine Webster\u2019, Sarah Gibson, 1997
Contemporary New Zealand Art 4, Elizabeth Caughey & John Gow, Bateman, 2005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHRISTINE WEBSTER, born in Pukekohe. 1982, 84, 88 QEII Arts Council Grant. 1989 Polaroid Small Projects Grant, Offenbach am Main, Germany. 1991 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, UO, Dunedin. 1994 Acting HOD, ASA SoA, Auckland. 1995 part-time tutor, ASA SoA. Arts Council Toi Aotearoa Fellowship, Auckland. 1996-97 part-time tutor, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland. 1996 CNZ Professional … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"yoast_head":"\n