Rohan Wealleans

Rohan Waelleans was born in 1977 in Invercargill, New Zealand. He studied at the Elam School of Arts, University of Auckland graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 2003. He is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Hamish McKay in Wellington, and Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand, where he is currently based.

Waelleans' work quite literally fuses painting and sculpture and at times incorporates elements of collage. He layers coloured paint, often up to 80 levels thick, over polystyrene and fibreglass and carves back in. His imagery is built around a world of science fiction and B-Grade cinema and, his layered paint constructions can move from varying degrees of wall-based relief to freestanding sculpture in the round.

In 2012 Waelleans shared a collaborative exhibition with established YBA Sarah Lucas at Sadie Coles, London. He exhibits regularly between his dealers in Australia and New Zealand. Important exhibitions include 'The Obstinate Object: Contemporary New Zealand Sculpture', City Gallery, Wellington, 2012; 'New Psychedelia', University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2011; 17th Biennale of Sydney, 'Beauty of Distance, songs of survival in a precarious age', directed by David Elliot, 2010; 'Asia Pacific Triennial', Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2009; 'My Own Private Idealogue: Joanna Langford, Peter Madden and Rohan Wealleans', Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne, 2009.