Tom Mackie

Tom Mackie (b. 1985  Ōamaru, North Otago) lives and works in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.

There are dual forces at work in Mackie's practice, distinct yet complementary. The first is an archival impulse: an appreciation of the ephemerality of things, identified with materials that are charged with obsolescence, signs of wear, and traces of former use. This sensibility leads Mackie to gently excavate the histories embedded in found objects, integrating their perceived flaws and redundancies into the formal logic of his relief sculptures.

The second tendency is anti-gestural. Seeking a visual language that challenges conventional modes of perception and encounter, Mackie employs refined surfaces and highly controlled forms that suppress evidence of the artist's hand. The productive tension between these tendencies places his practice beyond easy categorisation. Neither overtly expressive nor purely abstract, it occupies a space in which material memory and formal restraint coalesce, allowing historical traces to assume renewed significance.

Across a range of projects, Mackie has drawn attention to the build-up or "collateral" that conventionally sits outside of objects, obscured from view. Working with discarded canvases, found materials and reclaimed surfaces, he is interested in the aftereffects of creative production: residues, impressions, stains and other traces left behind through use and time. Through acts of re-framing, excavation and re-presentation, these overlooked details are transformed into points of focus, directing attention towards the often unseen histories carried within materials.