Globe-trotting New Zealand printmaker Prue MacDougall is a visual story teller. Each work in Navigating Worlds is part of a series of narratives, playing around with concepts and eclectic mixes of images to express an idea or emotion.
For her third exhibition in Pātaka’s Toi Galley, MacDougall has created a series that explore the European heritage of most New Zealanders. Using her recently uncovered maternal family tree, she presents themes of journeying, both physically and chronologically, and the effect these experiences have on our identity.
Fascinated by ephemera and antique curiosities, MacDougall often browses junk shops, bottom drawers and natural history collections. Using this as her starting point, she creates complex collages that highlight the layering of memory, time and travel.
Prue MacDougall has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Art (1985). She’s travelled extensively since then, developing her practice through close examination of master works in galleries and museums in Europe, the UK and the USA, and participating in postgraduate study at international art schools. MacDougall has exhibited in galleries around New Zealand and is represented in collections here and overseas.
