Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu, English) was invited by French luxury goods manufacturer Hermès to create original work for their boutique windows throughout the UK, after seeing her paintings completed as part of her degree. Townsend has worked closely with fashion houses since then, so when iconic Wellington department store Kirkcaldie & Stains closed its doors in 2016 after 152 years in business, she paid homage with her solo exhibition R.I.P. Kirks, presenting a synthetic, ‘instant’ view of the afterlife of consumerism.

Inspired by photographs taken during the store’s closing-down sale, these works re-contextualise store memorabilia acquired by the Wellington Museum. Townsend investigates the seductive power of modern consumerist trends in determining our aesthetic values, presenting her works, constructed from marbled linoleum, gold tape or cheap paint as ‘luxury products’.

Jade Townsend (born 1986, Whanganui) graduated with a BA (Hons) Fine Art from Manchester Metropolitan University, England in 2009 and was artist-in-residence at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London in 2016. Townsend has collaborated internationally with brands such as VOGUE, Harrods, Comme des Garcon; and in New Zealand with Scotties, Harry’s, ENA, Wakefield Hotel and Te Papa. She has presented solo shows at ITBeijing Market for her 2014 Wellington-Asia Residency Exchange, Pataka Art and Museum, Porirua and in various Wellington galleries.