Mark Compton

Born in Auckland (NZ) in 1978, Mark Compton has worked for many years as a fine art screen-printer and production manager. After dabbling on and off in the art world for several years, Mark decided to take up his brushes full time and is now a professional artist, working from his studio in Takapuna on the North Shore of Auckland.

Mark recently set up his studio in the basement of his childhood home, and has found this link to his early creativity refreshing and invigorating – fond memories of sitting in the front room drawing ‘life’ going by out the window, the cars parked, gardens, lamp posts, letter boxes and people walking by. This initial love of watching and creating images compelled him to choose a life dealing with the visual.

Mark’s creativity grew during his time at high school, however it was his move into employment that opened his eyes to the possibilities of pursuing a career as a professional artist. Beginning work in a screen-printing firm in 1997, Mark began a trade that would ignite his love for art and imagery. Training and working as a printer, he achieved his trade certificate in 2000. During this time he dealt with commercial printing along with artists’ imagery day in and out, so was in constant connection with shape, colour and composition.

After working professionally for several years he took a break and travelled in Europe, then was inspired to go back and study art full-time to broaden his skill and knowledge, which he did at Whitecliffe School of Art & Design.

During his career he has spent 11+ years working for NZ and international artists, creating limited edition print runs with them. Working as a printer, production manager and consultant to these artists, Compton has a vast amount of expertise in and exposure to the nuts and bolts of making quality artworks. Meeting iconic NZ artists who were making it work professionally and learning from them was invaluable. Here he learnt what was needed in a professional practice and how to implement it into his own.

With a love for advertising, pop culture and print media, Mark’s art is often found to be playful or cheeky. Although this is becoming his recognisable style, he is not usually bound to a particular motif or subject. The idea of drawing ’life’ has stuck with him and has influenced his subject matter significantly. While life is often the basis for his work, Mark subscribes to the idea that artworks are often the view that your window doesn’t have. He likes to deal with the images of life but also the unseen thoughts, questions and quirky takes on the norm. The goal of the work is often to create a conversation, whether it’s using words as imagery or letting the picture paint it for the viewer.