Mark Making

Mark Making by Josh Bashford is a solo exhibition bringing together a body of old and new woodcut works that explore the relationship between gesture, memory, and place. At its core, the exhibition considers mark-making as both process and language, where carving and printing become ways of responding to landscape, lived experience, and observation.

Working primarily in woodcut, Bashford creates images of birds and fish through congruent impressions that sit in dialogue with one another across paper, canvas, and hessian. The result is a rhythmic visual field where forms appear to shift, migrate, and echo across surfaces. These recurring motifs draw from time spent in coastal environments, particularly the Kaitorete Spit and wider Canterbury landscape, where movement in nature becomes a constant source of inspiration.

Rich in texture and detail, the works carry an immediacy that makes the artist’s hand visible in every cut, grain, and impression. Birds, fish, and abstracted forms emerge and recede through the prints, creating works that feel both grounded and constantly in motion. The exhibition invites viewers to slow down and look closely, revealing subtle shifts, patterns, and traces that unfold over time. Together, the works form a meditation on movement, memory, and the ways we come to understand the world through marks.

All artworks are for sale.

Artist's Biography

Born in 1989 of Samoan and Pākehā descent, Josh Bashford graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from the University of Canterbury in 2012. Based in Wairewa (Little River) on Banks Peninsula, he works full-time from his home studio, drawing inspiration from the surrounding landscape, including the river, roads, fish, and circling hawks, alongside experiences of Samoa and a deep connection to faith, culture, and environment.

Known for his large-scale woodblock prints, Bashford creates richly carved works alive with movement and symbolism. Birds, fish, wildlife, and human forms emerge through intricate mark-making, carrying a sense of protection, transformation, and spiritual energy. His works reward slow viewing, revealing shifting details and rhythms over time, and have established him as a distinctive voice in contemporary New Zealand art.

Bashford has exhibited throughout New Zealand, and his work is held in numerous private collections. In 2016, he was named a finalist in the prestigious Wallace Art Awards.