Current Exhibition

• February 2026 - Into the Forest - a group exhibition

  

  For February 2026, come with us Into the Forest - where myths, magic and imaginings abound.
  
  Details of the works featured in this group exhibition are set out beneath the images below.

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  Into the Forest 

  
  Featured works (in alphabetical order of exhibiting artist):
  
  Angela Tier
  
  Owl Candlestick, coiled stoneware, 355 x 300 x 110 mm 
  
  Brett a'Court
  
  The Hare, oil on canvas, 400 x 300 mm
  
  "The hare was introduced to New Zealand in 1851. In Celtic mythology, the hare was seen as a mystical shapeshifter and a divine messenger. There is a tale where a warrior hunted a wounded hare, only to find a beautiful woman. This led to it becoming taboo in Ireland to eat hares."

  
  Cam Munroe 
  
  The Elder Keepers, engraved handmade moulding paste and gold leaf on canvas, 1040 x 790 mm (framed size)
  
  

  "In the hush of the ancient forest, gold drifteth like a dream
  Soft upon leaf and hollow, bright on bark and stream.
  The trees stand as elder keepers, their roots in stories old,
  shaped by shifting coastlines and mountains long grown cold.
  
  Here where shadow and gold entwine, the forest whispereth low,
  a shimmer upon the mossy floor, a glimmer in the glow.
  Light gathers in quiet places, echoing ages past,
  a murmur of earth's old breath, barely a whisper as ages pass.
  
  To wander this glimmering realm is to walk where time lies still,
  where every gleam recalls what was, and every shadow that lies within."
  
  - Cam Munroe, 2026 

  
  Catherine Manchester 
  
  Danu, oil on canvas, 850 x 600 mm (framed size)
  
  In Celtic mythology, earth-mother goddess Danu is mother of the faery folk.
  
  Jennifer Baker
  
  - Life Support, oil on wood panel, 500 x 400 mm 
  - Rangiwahia Fungi No. 1, oil on wood panel, 200 x 150 mm
  - Rangiwahia Fungi No. 2, oil on wood panel, 200 x 150 mm 
  
  "Fungi, I recently learned, is fundamental to the existence of life on earth."
  
  "450 million years ago algae washed up onto the hard rock that made up primordial land, and entered into a mutually beneficial relationship with some fungi. Eventually this led to the beginnings of plant life, the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the increase in oxygen levels, which in turn gave rise to all animal life, including humans."
  
  "My paintings are a humble tribute to the magical magnificence of fungi."
  
  "The two small works are of mushrooms (‘the fruiting body… of acres of hyphae’), I came across on a bush walk in Rangiwahia. I’m no expert, but on consulting Fungi of Aotearoa New Zealand by Ruben Mita, Rangiwahia Fungi No.1 is possibly garlic shanklet, and Rangiwahia Fungi No.2 looks quite a bit like Hygrocybe species."
  
  "The larger work, Life Support, is set on the Tawa Loop track - the popular walking track of Te Āpiti - Manawatū Gorge. A child runs playfully through the lichen-covered forest, unaware they are rushing past, over and through the ancient ecological underpinnings of their being."
  
  Justin Cook
  
  - Ghosts (moa), cast glass, 130 x 110 x 70 mm each
  
  In Palmerston North, on a path beside the Manawatū river, are four footprints of moa cast in concrete. The original prints were found in 1912 after they were unearthed in a flood.
  
  “Artist impressions of extinct creatures have always appealed to me, especially the really odd ones, or the versions that couldn't possibly be accurate. As our understanding improves, the previous incarnations of how we thought the creatures were, is replaced."
  
  "These glass sculptures are my impression of what the moa that walked across the land near Hokowhitu might have looked like.”
  
  - The Ascension, stoneware, 220 x 120 x 90 mm
  
  "This sculpture explores the concept of post-apocalyptic survival on Earth, and the idea that cockroaches would be some of the few creatures that might survive nuclear fallout."
  
  - Vulcanops (bat - from the "somewhat inflated" series), stoneware, 150 x 900 x 60 mm
  
  "Vulcanops is a scientific genus that includes a single species of bat that is thought to have lived in New Zealand approximately 20 million years ago."
  
  "The large bat was described based on a few fossils found in the St Bathans area of Central Otago. Using these fragments of the species as a starting point, this balloon recreation represents an imagined version of the bat’s physical appearance."
  
  "Putting imaginary flesh to bone helps us make sense of the world we live in, and models - even those that turn out to be incorrect - are essential for us to do this." 
  
  Michele Irving 
  
  - Grey Wolf & Black Wolf at the Midsummer Werewolf Forest Festival, textile & mixed media, 165 mm / 175 mm high 
  - The Midsummer Werewolf Forest Festival (wall hanging), textile, 145 x 290 mm 
  
  Naga Tsutsumi 
  
  - Trader in the Forest, acrylic on paper mounted on board, 215 x 215 mm 
  - Trader in the Forest - Direct Sales, acrylic on board, 120 x 170 mm 
  - Trader in the Forest - Liquidation, acrylic on paper mounted on board, 215 x 265 mm 
  
  Naga Tsutsumi imagines a forest where green people and forest fairies live.
  
  The green people have removable and replaceable heads, from which one forest fairy saw a business opportunity - purchasing heads from green people, and selling them to ordinary people.
  
  But, as it turns out, selling heads is not an easy business – there is no wholesale market, and even those ordinary people wanting to buy them direct each have their own tastes and preferences.
  
  With it being such a niche and tricky business, the forest fairy gave up and liquidated the business - giving away the whole stock of heads.
  
  Paula Clare King
  
  - Into the Forest, acrylic on board, 790 x 560 mm (framed size) 
  
  "Into the Forest is inspired by the memories of my mother enforcing afternoon naps on my younger sister and me.
  
  We would moan and kick up a bit of a fuss, sometimes trying to sneak away. Mum would always read to us, until we fell asleep. I remember many stories and illustrations that included 'going into the forest'.
  
  Thanks so much to my mum for those precious times – feeding us story, language and so much visual bounty."  

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  Come exercise your imagination, and walk with us "Into the Forest" - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday