Francis Upritchard

Francis Upritchard was born in 1976 in Ngāmotu / New Plymouth, Aotearoa / New Zealand and lives and works in London and Aotearoa / New Zealand. Upritchard’s work draws on figurative sculpture, blending references from literature to ancient sculptures, and burial grounds to science fiction. Her installations showcase a wide variety of materials; her distinctive figurative sculptures are made using polymer plastic, amorphous mythological figures in balata - a natural rubber, bronze dinosaurs, glass vessels and ceramic urns. ‘Upritchard questions how we construct a vision for the future through our fractured, partial and often conflicted understanding of the past. She creates a place where histories and archives can be viewed anew through playfully exploring aspects of partiality, misreading and uncanny coincidences. Upritchard’s mini worlds are anti-imperial and non-hierarchical - there is no dominant culture.’ Heather Galbraith.

Solo exhibitions include Sing Siren, Kate MacGarry, London (2025); Any Noise Annoys an Oyster, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2024); A Loose Hold, Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland (2022); Wetwang Slack, The Curve, Barbican Centre, London, UK (2022); Surf’n’Turf, Kate MacGarry, London, UK (2022); Paper, Creature, Stone, Christchurch Art Gallery, Aotearoa / New Zealand (2022); Big Fish Eat Little Fish, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium (2020); Francis Upritchard, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2014); Potato Poem, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan (2013); A Long Wait, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Ohio (2012) and A Hand of Cards, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2012).