Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson

Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1960. She has been a practicing glass artist for the past decade, exhibiting as part of solo and group exhibitions in throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United States. She was a finalist in the Ranamok Contemporary Glass Prize, 2003 & 2007; the Mazda Art Awards, Hilton, Auckland, 2006 & 2007 and the MMC Glass Award, Whakatane Museum and Gallery, 2007. Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson’s work is represented in several public and corporate collections including, Heskith Henry, Art of Law, Shortland Street; ING NZ Limited, Customs Street, Auckland and private collections in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the USA.

Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson’s work explores provenance and her place of origin. The coastal landscape of New Zealand and its flora has a strong presence in her work and she is predominantly influenced by the form of the land that skirts the sea. The contours of New Zealand’s shorelines along with the expanse of the ocean, the dramatic tidal flats and volcanic cones that make up the Auckland Isthmus are all explored as part of her artistic sphere.

‘Objects, relics, memories, affections, loved ones. The ribbons of memory mark the journey connecting past to present. My ideas behind the work are about retrospection and connection to the past and the people we meet along the way. Objects can become special and can connect us to those people and their memory’. Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson