Sam Duckor-Jones

B. 1982

Sam Duckor-Jones was born in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. He is a multi-disciplinary artist, whose works with ceramics, papier mâché, bronze, and pen & ink have been shown at Bowen Galleries since 2006. Sam has completed residencies at numerous institutions, and his work is held in notable public and private collections across New Zealand. In 2017, he achieved his Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, graduating as the recipient of the Biggs Prize for poetry manuscript. He has published three books, including Party Legend, which was longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

His practice moves a fluorescent pink lens across his heart to capture the fears, triumphs, daydreams, and coping mechanisms of an aspirationally shimmering, live-alone quiet gay in 21st century New Zealand. Sam’s work is silly – and serious about its silliness. Nowhere is this ethos more evident than in Sam’s self-described ‘lifelong project’, Gloria. In 2020, while scouring Trade Me for the cheapest houses in New Zealand, Sam stumbled across, and decided to buy, the deconsecrated St. Andrews Anglican Church in Greymouth. He quickly set about painting the church in various shades of pink (Resene Scrumptious, Smitten, and Ballerina), installing a neon sign to make the Gloria title official, and making the space liveable by fixing the roof and re-puttying the windows. The space has been filled with a congregation of papier mâché parishioners and plywood saints. Gloria has become part residence, part queer worship space, part immersive sculpture, and part public venue – hosting weddings, drag shows, and more.

https://www.gloriaofgreymouth.com/

• LADS, 2023
• Your Move, Princess, 2021
• Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, 2019
• Time to get a dog, 2016
• First trip to the big city, 2014
• Kete, 2012
• Men alone with themselves, 2012
• Private beaches for sensetive blokes, 2009
• Old men playing, 2006

• You won’t believe your eyes…a visual miscellany, 2023
• About time, 2021