Christopher John Finlayson

Christopher John Finlayson was born in Balclutha in 1955.

In 1972 he entered the workforce as an apprentice for an Auckland book-binding firm. One year later, a near-fatal motorcycle accident changed his life and kick-started his artistic mind. Over the following years he rehabilitated himself back into the workforce by plunging into the Art & Entertainment scene. He freelanced as a graphic designer, creating promotional material for music, theatre and a variety of festivals; he held fine art exhibits with other artists.

In 1978 he took on the position as art director for the ‘Inner City News’. He met with Resene Paints Ltd, a new manufacturer on the market, and familiarized himself with their commercial paint systems. This led to painting walls inside cafes, bars, dance halls, and decorating outdoor community events.

In 1983 he moved to Nelson and collaborated with the Nelson Provincial Arts Council, producing four public murals. He got a taste for connecting the public with outdoor art, understanding that murals enhance the visual environment. and how an artwork reflects to everyone that it takes a community to bring up an artist. He stayed in Nelson and painted twelve more projects around the city.

He lived in Nelson from 1982 to 1985 and created a number of public murals in the city, including the now famous 'Ao-tea-roa' mural at Port Nelson, which has been declared a civic landmark. It remains one of the most photographed environmental artworks in New Zealand Aotearoa. Since the year 2000, Finlayson has settled in Takaka, Golden Bay, where he remains active in the local arts community.

In 1986 he relocated to Wellington, having acquired a position as art supervisor with the Wellington Arts Centre. He successfully pursued commercial and corporate interest in creating murals.

In 1989 the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council commissioned him to produce a number of projects within sensitive community environments throughout Aotearoa, such as hospitals, prisons and psychiatric facilities.

In 1991 he took on contracts as a set painter with the Royal NZ Ballet for 2 years, working with designer Kristian Fredrickson. During this time, opportunities emerged to work with City Council and independent architects. Finlayson added his artistic perspective to reconstruction sites, interior re-fits and Civic ‘Pop up’ parks.

In 1994 he created the longest fence mural in the country at the time: 250m around the construction site of Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand. At the public launch of Te Papa, fence panels were auctioned off and $20,000 donated to a children’s hospital charity.

In 1996 he went to live and work in Nanjing, China, decorating a huge underwater theme park. Returning home to Aotearoa, he began working on movie sets, decorating dance parties and managing projects with youth in Picton and Blenheim. He began to experience the effects of market over-exposure and was forced to take a much-needed health break.

In 2000 he travelled to Tākaka, Golden Bay, to work on a large wall in the middle of town. Fifty locals joined him to paint the ’Wonderland’ mural (revitalised in 2024). A year later, Golden Bay had become his home base, from where he travelled to rural and urban centres on both islands completing mural projects. Eventually travel lost its charm; Finlayson decided to work closer to home and have time to pursue his interests in creating music, video documentaries, animated movies, and building a website to promote his artwork.

In 2009 he was invited to restore his landmark ‘Aotearoa’ mural on Wakefield Quay, Port Nelson; a mural he had painted in 1984. The following year he painted an even larger mural in the city centre: the ‘Urban Jungle’, Selwyn Place, Nelson. In 2013, Nelson City Council commissioned him to produce the ‘Riverside Murals’ project which involved installing eight murals along the Maitai River walkway; he involved eight local artists, each showcasing a category of wall mural technique. The artists linked each mural with a theme ‘Our river our people’.

In 2015 Finlayson lost all his belongings in a fire. This included hundreds of fine artworks, past journals, project documents, digital recordings, art & music equipment. With the help of his community, he got back on his feet. Over the following years he kept up work on regional art projects and exhibited fine art with local artists, including creating hsi ‘Good Morning Golden Bay’ mural in 2016 at Tākaka’s Fresh Choice supermarket.

During his career, Finlayson has produced over 400 mural projects. Now age 69, he still keeps an artistic hand in the Golden Bay community.

See also:

• Historic images of Chris Finlayson murals in Wellington, as documented by Maribeth Coleman (Wellington Recollect)