Mark Henley

b. 1982, Auckland, New Zealand
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

Henley's work is interdisiplinary, oscilating between sculpture, video and drawing/Frottage. His practice engages ubiquitous form animated through sculptural mechanisms, posing a re-questioning on the banal. His use of Assemblage combined with shadow and reflection offer abstractions of the 'everyday', bringing to light the unseen complexity, and at times beauty of objects we live amidst.

His most recent solo showing - Navigation of the Precipice 2010, refers not only to the peripheral extremities of geographic course , but the bounds of ones imagined parameters. By removing objects from their expected context the viewer is confronted by a 'nudity' devoid of backdrop. His use of audience reflection in combination with the removal of context creates a disturbing sense for viewers as their own reflections are imposed within foreign settings. It references the artists self-reflection through nomadic periods where all points of reference are removed and self awareness heightened. Henley conjures a realm in which one exists in a state of disbelief. The learnt authenticity of ones surroundings is questioned; extrapolation of know truths is rife.

Henley completed concurrent study in Industrial Design and Fine Arts at Wellington's Massey University, 2004. He is a founding member of The Russian Frost Farmers, a multifaceted Wellington based Artist Initiative and co-director, in collaboration with Matthias Crause, of BLACK DOOR ISTANBUL, Turkey.



Links :
http://mark-henley.blogspot.com/