ZOË MARSDEN
Wellington-based artist Zoë Marsden’s highly detailed paintings feature derelict, abandoned or unusual buildings. Now without purpose or performing their original function, she is drawn to their mysterious, somewhat forlorn and eerie presence and aims to capture the haunting beauty of these places within her work.
The structures depicted are all places she has visited and connected with, but she may relocate them or alter their surroundings in the work itself to portray a certain mood. Zoë gives her work matter-of-fact titles that avoid placing them geographically, allowing them to convey an atmosphere rather than represent an actual place.
Born and educated in the UK, Zoë undertook formal art training to postgraduate level before working as a painter and prosthetic make-up artist in the film and television industry for 16 years. She first visited New Zealand while traveling for work, before emigrating permanently in 2014. She returned to her fine art practice in 2022.
Zoë won the Craigs Aspiring Art Prize 2024 with her painting The Lookout. She was selected as a finalist in the 2024 New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Awards, and the 2024 Walker & Hall Art Awards. She has exhibited throughout New Zealand and in the UK.