Mark was born in Luton England in 1968. His family emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1973. He returned to the UK in his twenties for fifteen years, training in landscape design. Whilst he was in the UK his parents and Paul (his brother) came to live in Whanganui.

When he returned to this country he also came to Whanganui where he commenced his creative work.

Mark began to work with clay in 2003 and now also works with other media including photography, and fibre making imagery utilizing the latch hook process.
Mark and Paul established Rayner Brothers Gallery in 2007 in Guyton Street. The Gallery is now situated in Taupo Quay.

Mark’s works focus on the strange and grotesque encompassing the bizarre and the humorous with caricature and the absurd. He has exhibited widely throughout Aotearoa with solo, group, and award exhibitions.

He won the Sarjeant Gallery Arts Review in 2016, the Lysaght Watt Trust Art Award in 2017, the Taranaki Art Award (Fibre) in 2017, and in 2025 was a finalist in the RT Nelson Awards for Sculpture.

Rick Rudd
2026