Liyen Chong, My Best Friend is an Algorithm, 2018

An artist of Malaysian-Chinese descent, Liyen boldly negotiates art forms, motifs and languages to create works that are conceptually rich and visually immaculate. Never erring far from the body and the self, Liyen’s works resist deciphering and act as little monuments of attempts at belonging, and an accompanying questioning of materials, rules and meaning. Discover more from Liyen.

Fiona Clark, Jackie at Mojos, Auckland, 1975, 1975

Fiona’s photographs provide access to crucial forms of social history, often investigating the politics of gender, identity and body. A social documentary photographer, she was one of the first photographers to document New Zealand's LGBT scene. Fiona has always been able to sift through the layers of the ordinary to expose the extraordinary in whatever community she has lived in. See more of Fiona's work.

Ruth Buchanan, The scene in which I find myself / Or, where does my body belong, 2019

Ruth recognises the exhibition spaces in which she presents her work as powerful systems of social organisation. Firmly rooted in institutional critique, her works interrogate the spatial dynamics of exhibitions through prints, texts, collections of objects, sculptures, films, performances and audio. Her works exist as standalone art objects and also as placeholders or ciphers within extensively researched and codified systems of relationships. Explore more of Ruth's work.

Stella Corkery, you had fun experience, 2019

Within her methodology Stella tends to bypass preparatory devices such as drawing and creates the work with some immediacy directly on to the canvas, improvising and problem solving in situ. Stella also works outside of visual mediums playing experimental music as a solo project and as part of the duo White Saucer. See more of her work here.

Suji Park, Shishi, 2013

Korean-New Zealnd artist, Suji enigmatically practices a cyclical and intuitive approach to materiality, destroying and reconstituting her media. Her sculptural works range from iridescent abstract forms to intricately subjective figurative sculptures. Suji works across a range of media discovering its physical limitations, imbuing her sculptures with new life by accenting interactions between likely and unlikely elements. Discover more of her practise.

Jess Johnson, Outer like the Inner, 2019

Jess’ drawing and installation practice is influenced by science fiction, language, culture and technology. In her drawings she depicts complex worlds that combine densely layered patterns, objects and figures within architectural settings. Her drawing practice has fed into installations and collaborations in animation, music, fashion, Virtual Reality, and textile art. See more from Jess.

Zac Langdon-Pole, Passport (Argonauta), 2018

Auckland born and Berlin based, Zac's photographic and sculptural practice of found and fabricated artefacts traverses a range of scales from the familial to the celestial; all connected by the artist's interest in memory, translation, and the ordering of social and natural worlds. See more of Zac's work.

Sriwhana Spong, Villa America, 2012

Of New Zealand and Indonesian descent, Sriwhana is interested in the fertile margins where things meet – working across sculpture, film, writing, dance, and sound. Her large silk banners dyed in Fanta, Coca-cola, and tea function as more than reproaches of global homogeneity through colonisation and capitalism, but also consider the power of collective experience by acknowledging these consumed substances’ effect as being at once toxic and joyous. Explore the diversity of Sriwhana's work.

Michael Parekōwhai, My Sister, My Self, 2006

Michael Parekōwhai (Ngā Ariki Kaiputahi, Ngāti Whakarongo) is an Auckland-based artist, highly regarded for his daring culturally thematic explorations, pop accessibility, and impeccable finish; with an exhibition history spanning almost two decades. If you’ve wandered the Auckland waterfront you’ll be familiar with his large scale public sculpture (The Lighthouse) installed in 2017. See more work from Michael.

Imogen Taylor, Loose Ends, 2013

Imogen’s paintings explore art herstory through reclamation of modernist tropes such as diagonals, fractured forms and hessian that speaks to textile histories (specifically Bauhaus weaving). Imogen believes Cubism and queer theory share multi-perspectivity; a trait that can encourage non-binary values systems when considering her paintings. See more of Imogen's work.

Ana Iti, Only fools are lonely, 2018

Wellington artist Ana Iti (Te Rawara) investigates the process of imbuing land and geology with cultural and personal meaning. Working poetically with text and audio, and grounded by collected geological materials, Ana explores her personal connections to place through language, narrative and memory.

Sorawit Songsataya, Jupiter (detail), 2019

Sorawit is primarily interested in craft, textiles, hand-made objects and their connection to computer technology. Their practice forms at the intersection of digitised labour and traditional craftsmanship. Sorawit explores the intricacy of what it means to ‘make’ today: how political and historical dimensions are embedded and layered in the process of making, in material selection, modes of research, and methods of presentation. See more of Sorawit's work.

Kate Newby, Texas. Big Wave Surfing, 2017

Using every-day actions and materials to displace and challenge the ways we exhibit, view and archive contemporary art, Kate’s work consists of site specific projects that form relationships with locations through actions. See more of Kate’s work.

Bronwynne Cornish, Oracle with Jackal, 2012

Bronwynne’s distinctive figurative works push boundaries and perceptions of both contemporary craft and sculpture. When her large scale installations first appeared in the 1980s, they were considered a radical departure from the accepted traditions of pottery-making in New Zealand.

Hannah Valentine, Something other, held in common (detail), 2019

Hannah’s practice is based around the body, movement and participation. She approaches the performative body in terms of physicality and exercise in relation to our urban environment. Hannah is interested in the way we use and think about our physical self-in-space; in the way we build and shape our bodies and in the way our bodies are shaped by external influences. See Hannah’s full body of work.

PĀNiA!, The True Artist Helps the World by Asking for Trust (After Bruce Nauman), 2019

Paying homage to American artist Bruce Nauman, PĀNiA! produces her own unique take on one of his iconic works. Now, more than ever, PĀNiA! says there is an urgent need for a ‘true’ artist to reject such ‘learned helplessness’ and to get real, reach out and engage - to propose conditions where good becomes possible. Read more about PĀNiA! here.

Baye Riddell, Kaitiakitanga (detail), 2015

Born in Tokomaru Bay, 1950, of Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau-a-Ruaptaupare descent, Baye began working with clay in the early 1970s, while living in Christchurch.

Luke Thompson, Untitled, 2015

Of Fijian and European descent, Luke is a New Zealand artist currently working primarily in film. In 2014 he was awarded the Walters prize for his work inthisholeonthisislandwhereiam, a work with no physical manifestation. See more of his work.

Synthia Bahati, Just like a star, 2019

“Through these photographs, I wanted to show that my community is far more that the stereotypes we have been reduced to; to celebrate our existance and recreate new narratives”. See more from Synthia.

Victorine Müller, Timeline, 2015 - 2012

Combining the disciplines of performance, sculpture, painting and sound, Müller’s work can be considered palpably immersive experiences to her audience. Each artwork is characterised by the artist herself incased in a seemingly weightless PVC structure, often depicting that of an animal. Her presentations are very much oriented around a spiritual or emotional dynamism where her presence inside the air-filled creature often emits a tangible aura – breathing animistic energy into the beast she inhabits. Explore Müller's work.

Daniel O'Toole, Untitled colour study, 2020

Building on the Los Angeles 'light and space' movement of the 1960’s, Daniel's work is positioned in the post-digital context of contemporary Australia. Working across the mediums of painting, video, sound and installation, he blurs the lines between disciplines – always looking for an outcome which unites the various aspects of his practice in a cohesive way. See more from Daniel.

Caroline Zimbalist, Mosaic Lamp, 2020

An artist who blends fashion, science, and engineering to create one-of-a-kind works, Caroline is moved by our impact on the natural world, distorting colours and textures and re-sculpting them into three-dimensional forms. Discover Caroline's pieces.

Guy Yanai, Sylvain and Pauline, 2021

With their vernacular subject matter and pixelated appearance, Guy Yanai’s paintings encompass a variety of historical influences but seem distinctly of a technology-inflected moment. Inspired by historical figures such as Matisse and Cezanne, as well as more contemporary figures such as Tal R, the Tel Aviv-based artist’s paintings capture unoccupied scenes of everyday life, flattened into a shallow depth of with solid blocks of color that create the appearance of cut-outs or collage. See more from Guy.

Fausto Melotti, Elementi, 1975

Fausto's structures played with balance and negative space to create a whimsical and intriguing final result. Melotti died on June 22, 1986, the same year he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. Today, his work is held in the collections of The Modern Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Rome, and the Gori Collection in Pistoia, among others. Explore Melotti's work.