Whilst represented in public galleries throughout New Zealand, limited biographical information on Aubrey is provided by subjects portrayed in his dated works. Aubrey came from Stewart Island to Riverton in 1879, and painted around Riverton and the Orepuki area. In 1881 he travelled and painted his way up the Aparima River. He was a guest at Southland's Fairfax Hotel in January 1891, the night it burned down.

Aubrey was known to have been in Otago and Southland in the 1870s and to have worked on back country stations in the 1880s. He often left sketches in return for hospitality. In 1876 the artist moved from Dunedin south to the Taieri Plains and Milton. During 1877 he painted the lower Clutha Valley and from 1878 till 1884 he worked in Southland. Aubrey then travelled to the spectacular regions of Fiordland and its surrounding lakes. Lake Manapouri Panorama was painted on this journey. He went on to Queenstown, Lake Wanaka then north to Canterbury in 1885 returning to North Otago in 1886. The last South Island subjects painted before he crossed to the North Island are 1888 views of Dunedin and the Fox Glacier.

From 1889 until 1900 Aubrey travelled widely, working in Wellington, the Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Palmerston North, Wanganui, the Waikato,Coromandel and towards the end of that time, Auckland . The last referenced work is a 1902 view of Dunedin, painted the same year of his death. The only contemporary record appears in the catalogue of the Melbourne International Exhibition, 1880 where Aubrey is listed as living in Invercargill.

The measure of control displayed in Aubrey's work suggests professional training with experience in engineering or another technical field. His numerous views of hotels, farmhouses, lakes and towns indicates an itinerant artistic life. This supposition finds slight confirmation in the absence of his name in electoral rolls and street directories of the period. Christopher Aubrey is represented in major collections throughout the country including the Auckland Art Gallery, Alexander Turnbull and Hocken Libraries.