Whakawhanaukataka is an exhibition of ceramic sculptures and installation that is attentive to how earth-materials, poeple and other things belong to specific places; silt carried along by a river to the shoreline, rocks that erode and tumble from mountains, objects kept safe in containers and mana whenua held by whakapapa to land.
Current Exhibition
Hātarei 2 Noema -
Hātarei 7 Tīhema
Saturday 2 November -
Saturday 7 December
2024
Research image courtesy of the artist
The earth-materials gathered by Jess Nicholson for Whakawhanaukataka were sourced from various sites, including Maukatere mauka and Rakahuri awa - ancestral sites for Nicholson. Other sites include Waikuku beach, Huriawa north of Ōtepoti, Matatā near where Nicholson grew up, Tapu te Ranga in Te Whanganui-a-Tara where they lived for several years, ash from the fireplace in their flat and recycled clays from the Dunedin School of Art. Each of these places holds a significance and sense of belonging for Nicholson, yet the works dwell in thoughts of how a place can be home without connections through whakapapa.
Whakawhanaukataka brings a combination of vessels and forms together that are interlinked, yet that speak to their own transitional, in-between states of being.
Jess Nicholson
Jess Nicholson (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Pākehā) is a ceramicist from Whakatāne living in Ōtepoti. Their practice focuses on cultural and environmental sustainability, incorporating local uku, kōhatu, sand and ash into their work to make real and permanent the emotional and cultural connection they feel to the whenua. In 2023 they made Kowhaea for Ayesha Green’s Folk Nationalism exhibition at City Gallery Wellington, and in 2024 they worked collaboratively with Wi Taepa and Simon Kaan for their Nohoaka Toi Ki Puketeraki series. They are the Caselberg Trust’s Creative Connections artist in residence for 2025.