Biography
Based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, New Zealand, Josh Hopton-Stewart is an artist exploring the many dimensions of gay identity, focusing on intimate, personal subjects as a way of exploring wider conversations around selfhood, sexuality, and belonging.
Artist statement
I’m drawn to the interplay of the sensual and the everyday, particularly how ideas of identity, sexuality, and intimacy are negotiated between these two domains. While my artistic practice is deeply personal and grounded in lived experience, I aim to create works that resonate with wider conversations around queerness, community, and belonging.
Printmaking allows me to explore bold, graphic forms alongside more expressive, sculptural details. The physicality of the process — the carving, layering, rolling, and pressing — against the delicate materials of ink and paper produces pieces that feel both powerful and tender. This effect is further heightened by textures that evoke the organic rhythms of hair and flesh as it swirls and flows over muscle and bone.
Qualifications
Certificate in Creativity (Level 4) - The Learning Connexion, 2025
Bachelor of Music (Composition) - New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, 2011
Exhibitions
June 2025 - "Perspectives TBD" - LAB Gallery, Wellington