John McLean New Zealand Artist

The Artist:

I live with my wife Chris on our coastal 16 hectare farmlet 40km north of New Plymouth, New Zealand. Here we have self-built our house, studio and workshop and have established a lifestyle around a high degree of self-sufficiency. We have a flourishing vegetable garden and home orchard, some domestic meat production, hunting and fishing. This context gives a firm grounding to my creative life. We also have the delight of 3 adult children and six grandsons.

The Work:

The total dedication to my art developed after teaching until the age 30. At that time I was fortunate to receive a couple of years of mentoring from Michael Smither, a prominent New Zealand painter. Thereafter I moved into the north Taranaki countryside , which has shaped my vision for over 30 years.

My first 20 years of painting honed skills and vision of the realist genre. After that time I was beset by growing restlessness stemming from growing awareness that I had fulfilled my involvement in the literal domain.

At the same time I had become very interested in Jungian notions regarding the domain of the unconscious at an individual and collective level. Associated with this was an interest in allegory and traditional tales, myth and fairy story, as explored by thinkers such as Joseph Campbell et al. I was drawn to the power of such vehicles in carrying penetrating and enduring statements about our common humanity.

This focus permeated my practice and gave rise to exploratory means that were directed towards engaging more of the unconscious domain in the development of my paintings. This pursuit has lead to the to the narrative style of imagery with which I work. I like to think that the paintings which result from this can function as visual parable or allegory. While they are open to literal interpretation; there is also an intended level of metaphor and symbolism. The background visual vocabulary I developed in my years of landscape painting has provided an invaluable context from which my paintings can speak, as they attempt to glimpse archetypal dimensions within the human condition.

In addition to my painting practice I also sculpt stone, generally Taranaki andersite. The motifs pursued in this medium generally follow the subjects I pursue with paint.

John McLean

Mimi Farm, 16th April 2010