Carolyn Menzies is a contemporary artist who incorporates craft processes and industrial materials, as well as found objects, into her abstract sculptures. Her practice shines a light on the often-invisible landscape of labour and power through the lens of the home.
Born in New Zealand, she studied sculpture at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. She completed her MA in Fine Arts at Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design, London. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. She lives and works in Narrm/Melbourne, Australia.
Download Carolyn Menzies: CV 2023
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Of Slender Means, Linden New Art, Project Space, St Kilda, Melbourne
2020 Steelo, Members Vitrine, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
2019 Immaterial, Gallery 1, Unitec, Auckland
Morphogenesis, Tinning Street Presents, Brunswick, Melbourne
2018 Adhere, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
2017 Embedded, Angela Robarts-Bird Gallery, Gasworks Art Park, Melbourne
If I Knew Now What I Knew Then, Arcade, Footscray
2016 Lucid Blooms, Trocadero Art Space, Footscray
2015 Pre-emptive Nostalgia, Angela Robarts-Bird Gallery, Gasworks Art Park
1999 Ultrasight, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North
Pulse, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
1997 Sleep, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
1995 Tides of the Heart, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
Surfacing, Vavasour Godkin Gallery, Auckland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Stories in the Landscape 2022, The Sculpture Park,Waitakaruru Arboretum, NZ
Design Fringe, Linden New Art Gallery, St Kilda
The Off Season, Assembly Point Vitrines, Southbank
Sculpture Now, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne
2021 Leftover Love, Australian Tapestry Workshop, South Melbourne
Immerse 2021, City of Knox (site-specific art exhibition)
Albert Park Art Walk, Albert Park, Melbourne
2019 Deakin Contemporary Small Sculpture Award 2019, Deakin University
2018 From Nature 18, Gasworks Art Park
2017 Women for Women: Making Space, The Artist Guild, The District, Docklands
From Nature 17 - outdoor organic sculpture exhibition, Gasworks Art Park
Sweet FA, Trocadero Arts Building, Footscray
2016 From Nature - outdoor organic sculpture exhibition, Gasworks Art Park, Melbourne
Linden Postcard Show 2016, Linden New Art, St Kilda, Melbourne
2015 Art After Dark, Smart Artz Gallery, Melbourne & Ambush Gallery, Sydney
2002 Light Sensitive, Century Gallery, ACAVA, London
1998 Embody, Robert McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch
1997 Water, Water Everywhere, Hawke’s Bay Museum, Napier
1996 Pins and Needles, Suter Art Gallery, Nelson
1995 Inside the Solid, Robert McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch
Praxis, South Island Art Projects
Occupation, Site-specific art exhibi9on, Christchurch Arts Center
1994 By Invitation Only, South Island Art Projects
Little Jewels, AMBA, NZ Festival of the Arts, Wellington
Group Show, Vasasour Godkin Gallery, Auckland
1993 T’arting Up Town, Christchurch Community Arts Council Project
Nature TaToo, High Street, Gallery, Christchurch
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
2001 Master of Fine Art, Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design, London
1991 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, NZ
Awards and Scholarships
2021 Artist Residence, Australian Tapestry Workshop, South Melbourne
2020 City of Port Phillip, Love My Place Funding (to curate Albert Park Art Walk)
1996 Travel Grant, Creative New Zealand
1993 Crown Jewels, Sculpture Residency, Queen Mary Hospital, Hamner Springs, NZ
1991 Ethel Rose Overton, University of Canterbury
1991 Rosemary Johnson Muller, University of Canterbury
Publications, Reviews and Essays
2020 Craft Conversations, Carolyn Menzies, Craft Victoria
2019 Gina Ferguson, Senior Lecturer, Curator Gallery One, Unitec, Immaterial show catalogue
2001 Jennifer Hay, ‘Life Flow’, The Christchurch Press, November 14, p37
1999 Robyn Ussher, ‘Take Pick from Plenty’, The Christchurch Press, May 26, p19
1998 Priscilla Pihs, ‘Contemporary New Zealand Sculpture’, David Bateman Ltd, Auckland, p39
1996 Jonathan Bywater, ‘ Pins and Needles’, The Suter Gallery, Nelson, pgs 5-6
1995 Justin Paton, ‘Carolyn Menzies, Kristy Gorman, Andrea Gerbic’, Art New Zealand, vol 4