Discover the evolving body of my work through showcased exhibitions, each accompanied by the research, concepts, and creative processes that shaped them.

- Drayton Colson

2026

Artist Statement: 

 

'Phantasmagoria' refers to a shifting world of illusions and unstable realities. Originating from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century magic lantern shows that projected ghostly images onto walls, phantasmagoria blurred the boundaries between what was real and what was imagined. 

In this work, phantasmagoria operates as a conceptual framework for exploring uncertainty and perception. It describes a space where reality becomes unstable. Rather than offering a clear narrative, the images embrace ambiguity, encouraging viewers to move between recognition and doubt. By drawing on the logic of phantasmagoria, the work creates a visual experience in which appearances cannot be taken at face value. 

The choice of the forest responds to the historical association of women within domestic roles. By placing the female figure within a constructed landscape, I create a setting that resists the traditional confines. The model is using the idea of the anti-pose to reject conventional ideals of feminine beauty and desirability. Together, the forest and the anti-pose act as forms of resistance against the roles and representations historically assigned to women. 

  

Drayton Colson, Refusal, 2026, matt print mounted on board, 80x48 cm 

Drayton Colson, The Counterpose, 2026, Mat print, board, LED lights, 110.165 cm 

Drayton Colson, Unbecoming, 2026, matt print mounted on board with LED lights, 80 x 53cm 

2025

Artist Statement:

The Showgirl (Diptych) 

My work explores the moments where the mask of the showgirl persona drops. Revealing how women navigate systems of performed femininity and commodification, using these systems for their own benefit. But also, the mental toll that these systems create on them.  

Referencing Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, that gender is not instinctive but performed through repeated actions, gestures, and social norms. This resonates strongly within the showgirl's life of repetition, painted smiles, and rehearsed routines.  Then Luce Irigaray’s concept of mimesis (the representation of reality) allows me to view the showgirl’s exaggerated femininity as both survival and subversion. Supported by melodrama, this informs my visual language; using the black backdrop and intense studio lighting on the set creates this vast background. allowing me to highlight the weight of the performance.  

Already being part of this world through my own experiences, this project has deepened my connection to it. The women I have photographed have become my friends, and through our interviews and photoshoots, I have developed a genuine respect and understanding for them. To ground my visual theory, I have examined artists such as Cindy Sherman, Tracey Moffatt, and Yuki Kihara, which helps to explore the fragile space between artifice and authenticity where the mask slips and the woman behind it becomes visible, powerful, and real. 

- Drayton Colson, 2025

Artist Statement:

Maxine (Triptych) 

This triptych centres on Maxine, a stripper and trained dancer, to explore the dualities of strength and sensuality within stripping culture. Using chiaroscuro lighting. (A technique rooted in the Renaissance and Baroque periods to dramatize contrast and volume through intense light and shadow) Historically employed by artists like Caravaggio and Rembrandt to convey emotional intensity and divine presence, here chiaroscuro is recontextualised to elevate the dancer’s body.  

To pay homage to the travelling circus strippers, these photos are set against drapery as an allusion to the stage curtains and backdrops seen in those performances. This homage is reinforced by printing the photos on rough canvas, reminiscent of circus tents. Extending this theatrical reference, the work explores how costume, particularly heels, acts as both armour and identity. The photographs blur the boundary between persona and self, reflecting how strippers often adopt hyper-feminine roles as protective strategies. The images frame Maxine’s body as both powerful and performative. Through pose, lighting, and visual symbolism, the work critiques the viewer’s gaze while inviting reflection on how visibility, performance, and power intersect in the sex industry. Rather than documenting reality, this series constructs a narrative of embodiment and resistance. 

-Drayton Colson, 2025

 Artist Statement:

Jamila

My work explores the relationship between time and space through the photographic medium. With my primary focus being on pole dancing. Initially, this project was to document my personal journey with the sport, but as my research deepened, I found a much broader history and cultural discourse surrounding it that I felt needed to be addressed through my work. My practice turned out to be deeply influenced by historical and contemporary discourses surrounding pole dance, positioning it within broader conversations about bodily autonomy, performance, and artistic representation.  The origins of pole dance can be traced back to ancient cultures in places like India, where it was used for fertility and religious rituals. Over time, this evolved into performances by sex workers in strip clubs. (Which could be interpreted as a more western fertility ritual.) The dance form has undergone a significant transformation to distance itself from its strip club reputation. Despite the work done by strippers to establish studio spaces for pole dance, this shift has now caused tension between modern pole dancers and sex workers, as newer dancers do not want to associate with the stripping aspect of pole. Many pole moves are named after the strippers who created them and used them as their signature move during their performances. For example, the moves I have chosen to photograph, Jamila and Jasmine, pay homage to these dancers. It was these strippers that worked in the sex industry who were also able to grow the dance studio community, which in turn expanded the pole dancing community, legitimizing the sport and allowing it to be seen as an athletic art form.  In my work, I depict the transitional moments of getting in and out of the moves in the background while highlighting the main move in the landscape orientation. I am investigating the ways in which spatial aspects and temporality can shape the perception of movement. Drawing inspiration from Eadweard Muybridge’s early motion studies, my photographic work fragments and isolates movement, breaking it down into distinct visual moments. The integration of multiple exposures and sequencing techniques references the layered imagery of Peter Funch, allowing me to condense time within a single frame, creating a tension between fluidity and stillness. 

A1 fine art gloss print mounted on card 

2024

Artist Statement:

Falls  

These waterfall artworks have stemmed from me hiking out in the Waitakere Ranges with my brother, where we would find places to photograph together. Through these hikes I became drawn to the waterfalls and how much the captured movement of a waterfall can vary. Through this, I was also interested in how this size translates into the studio space. Because my preferred working medium is photo media, I started by working in photoshop to enhance this size. I worked to make the image slimmer to bring attention to the water and then elongated the waterfall in the image. This elongation process made me fascinated with the sizes of everything in the photo, so I also dragged in the tree to overlap the waterfall, as this tree in real life is also very enormous, and I have never seen this type of tree so big before, and it really captivated my attention. Then, to continue the idea of bringing the size of the waterfall into the studio, I have printed the photo at 1 x 3 meters. Through photoshopping the water, however, I became extremely interested in its captured movement and then wanted to replicate this. So, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and paint another waterfall picture I had taken, trying to keep it more abstract and just looking at tones and movement. Emphasizing both elements with wall filler mixed into the paint to give a 3d element to the painting.  

Acrylic paint, Wall Filler, on Card, 2.5 x 1 meter

Canvas print, 3 x 1 meters

Artist Statment:

The Mark

These two sister works have developed through my experiments with paint and playing with how I can manipulate this medium with different things to bring this out onto the canvas. At first, I experimented with leaves, fingerprints, hair, and forks in order to see the mark each would leave on the canvas. I found on the small pages I was testing on I really enjoyed the marks the hair would leave on the canvas. So, I thought I would scale up and continue with the hair but then realized I only liked the hair marks on the smaller canvas, and I much preferred the forks on a large scale. After experimenting with painted backgrounds, I decided to use bright colours which led to the orange background, and after stepping back, I decided to invert it and have a black background. These two works have come out of experimentation, refinement of the experiment, but also a playful movement of swiping a fork across a canvas from top to bottom.  

Acrylic paint, Wall Filler, on card, 2 x 1 meters

Artist Statement

This work marks my first university project at Whitecliffe, where we were challenged to reinterpret Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez through our own creative lens. As a photographer, I approached the task using a technique I frequently return to—compositing multiple versions of myself into a single image. This method allows me to explore identity, perspective, and narrative within a still frame. The "paintings" featured in the background are past photographic works of mine, originally created during high school, some of which received national recognition. By incorporating them into this piece, I aimed to reflect on my creative journey while recontextualizing classical themes through a contemporary, self-referential lens.

Drayton Colson, Recontextulised, print on canvas, 2 x 1.5 meters

2023

Scholarship pages for year 13

PDF file

My Year 13 scholarship photography pages, which contributed to me placing third in the country for photography in 2023