Viky Garden
Viky Garden is best known for her intense, probing self-portraits. Her 35-year artistic practice is informed by an intimate yet universal empathy, an exploration of the human condition located in a profoundly personal understanding of the female experience.
Her work is instantly recognisable – uncompromising, psychologically discerning, and emotionally resonant. Garden’s socio-political perspectives are simultaneously precise and ambiguous, creating a tension in her work that is unsettlingly subtle and provocatively compelling.
Her disciplined approach to storytelling aligns with the work of her peers, Tracey Emin, Celia Paul and Shani Rhys James, among others, who are equally committed to the enduring language and substantial sociological power of figurative painting.
Viky Garden was born in Wellington and tutored by Vivian Lynn, 1975–79. She lives in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand with Steve Garden (www.rattle.co.nz).
A finalist in the NZ Adam Portrait Award in 1992, 2014 and 2016, the Parkin Drawing Award 2018 and 2019, the Aesthetica Creative Works Award UK in 2011 and winner of international awards for her pinhole photography in Barcelona, Spain, 2018 and 2020.
-
2025 Viky Garden: A Year, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2024 New Studio Work, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2021 Grit, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2020 Pictured, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2020 Frayed, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2019 Viky Garden – Paintings, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2019 Casting Shadows, Fe29 Gallery, Dunedin
2018 Say It To My Face, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland
2016 Seven By Two, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland
2009 Passengers, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland
2008 New World Virtues, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland
2007 Hinterland, Judith Anderson Gallery, Napier
2006 Girls and Dolls, Judith Anderson Gallery, Napier
2006 Arabesques, Edmiston Duke Gallery, Auckland
2005 Femme-Bridal Suite, Edmiston Duke Gallery, Auckland
2005 Dressergirls, Judith Anderson Gallery, Napier
2004 Baselines, Judith Anderson Gallery, Auckland
2003 Polemos, Judith Anderson Gallery, Auckland
2002 Any Given Day, Judith Anderson Gallery, Auckland
2001 Auckland – A Work Of Fiction, Judith Anderson Gallery, Auckland
2000 Here, After, Peters Muir Petford, Auckland
1999 Contra-indication, Peters Muir Petford, Auckland
1997 Office Wives, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland
1996 Sisters of Mercy, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland
1995 A Thin Disguise, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland
1994 True Life Studies, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland
1990 Nudes, Auckland Society of Arts
1989 Paintings, Auckland Society of Arts -
2020 Honourable Mention Monochrome Photography Awards.
2020 Winner, 15th Pollux Photography Award, Alternative Process Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2020 Finalist, 15th Pollux Photography Award, Alternative Process Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2020 Finalist, 15th Pollux Photography Award, Fine Art Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2020 Finalist Fine Art Category, 15th Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Award, Barcelona, Spain.
2019 Winner, 13th Pollux Photography Award, Self Portrait Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2019 Finalist, 13th Pollux Photography Award, Fine Art Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2019 Finalist, 13th Pollux Photography Award, Alternative Process Category, Barcelona, Spain.
2019 Finalist, Parkin Drawing Award, Wellington, NZ.
2018 Winner, Alternative Process, 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Award, Barcelona, Spain.
2018 Finalist, Parkin Drawing Award, Wellington, NZ.
2017 Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Whakatane, NZ.
2016 Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Whakatane, NZ.
2016 Finalist, Adam Portraiture Award, NZ Portrait Gallery, Wellington, NZ.
2015 Finalist, NZ Painting & Printmaking Award, Hamilton, NZ.
2015 Finalist, Merit Award, Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Whakatane, NZ.
2014 Finalist, Adam Portraiture Award, NZ Portrait Gallery, Wellington, NZ.
2011 Finalist, Aesthetica Creative Works Award, UK.
1992 Finalist, Adam Portraiture Award, NZ Portrait Gallery, Wellington, NZ.
1992 Finalist, Portraiture Award Auckland Society of Arts, Auckland, NZ.
1988 Finalist, Portraiture Award Auckland Society of Arts, Auckland, NZ.