Gallery - Latest
Inside the Glass Cage: Misogyny in Aotearoa New Zealand
How online threats and abuse seek to silence women, and how women resist.
Drawn from interviews with women in journalism, politics and academia who have first-hand experience of such issues, this exhibition explores how what happens online has many real-world effects. It invites us to consider how women may have broken through glass ceilings, but patriarchal and racist forces still seek to constrain our rights and freedoms. The strategies these women use to persist ...
Conceptual visualisation by Ric-Brown-Artist
Example Text panel
The text (readable from within the 'cage') recounts the emotions felt by the recipient after an encounter with Online Misogyny.
Comment Book
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Marsden Fund,
who have provided a three year grant to support our research.
KIWI SAINTS
A exhibition of figurative relief sculptures in slate with gold leaf accents.
Ric has imagined some recognisable Kiwi characters, created an narrative and overlaid them with the attributes of familiar Catholic Saints, in a form of Saintly nominative determinism.
Abi
Abi is an apiarist, she claims to know all her bees by name. She has never been stung!
Abi is also a healer and swears by the medicinal properties of her Manuka honey.
Abi's parents named her after Saint Abigail of Ireland, venerated as the patron saint of bees and bee-keepers.
Big Chris
From Kiwi Saints,
“Chris ain't no saint, but he is, one awesome shepherd!”
The Damage is Done
A 3D winged and daggered heart,overlayed with scroll. Carved from two marbles and slate.
Sailor style tattoo, it is said to represents loss and sacrifice, often through betrayal in love.
Its origins go back to early Christian artwork, the symbol has traditionally been called the “Immaculate or Sacred Heart of Mary”.
The Slate dagger is carved in the round and may be drawn and re-inserted by the owner.
Bone of Contention
A wishbone offers hope, but when split there is only one winner.'
Pounamu, Marble, Gold Leaf.
A Wishbone carved from Pounamu/Jade, centred on a plate. The marble plate is guilded with a Māori pattern.
The wishbone is carved from Pounamu, a material regarded as taonga (treasure) and full of spiritual significance to Māori.
In many cultures the wishbone represents opportunity and good fortune, However, this 'opportunity' is lost when the bone is split and someone is left with the smaller portion.
This alludes towards the inherent conflict between Western scientific practice (invasive, destructive) and Indigenous practice, (observational, non-destructive). Eg, in Western Science, a new species can only be recognised when a specimen is killed and sent to the relevant authority.
The Wishbone sits on a plate made of marble (the prevalent carving medium of western culture, past and present), which has a sandblasted Māori design inlayed with gold (the most 'taonga' mineral in Western culture). The 'Māori pattern' was purchased on the Etsy website from a Russian trader who 'claims' copyright and ownership of the design. (!)
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Crystal Ball
A marble pyramid topped with a crystal ball and brass shelf, reminiscent of a weather station heliograph, but instead of a sunshine chart, the image, burnt through the middle, is a representation of the Earth.
The work references the Eye of Providence and plays with the idea of a heliographs similarity to the 'Crystal Ball' used in divination and prophesy.
(find better image)
Works End
Retirement option for many New Zealanders today.
Ophelia Falling
Slate and gold leaf.
(find better image)
Tin & Bones
A bone carving of sardines in a recycled tin.
A work depicting a staple food stuff for many. In style it references the 'outsider art' of scrimshaw and whale bone carvings produced by the early industrial farmers of the sea..
[received Merit Award, Franklin Arts]
Bone, pāua, tin.
Monkey on my back
Squid are actively sought as a delicacy by whales. However, all pleasures come with a cost. Giant squid often inflict significant battle scars on their foes. Inexperienced or ageing whales can be vanquished by their pray, prevented from reaching the life giving oxygen above the waves.
(The things you love can sometimes drag you down..)
Bone, pāua.
Fetish
Crucified feet, carved in slate with gold leaf. The word, 'Fetish' has multiple meanings including "an object of fixation" , "an object of reverence or obsessive devotion" and a "non-genital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response." all of which could apply to this work. The works intention is to comment on differing religious traditions, which to some, may appear distant, yet are conceptually very similar.
[exhibited at NZAFA, receiving an award of merit.]
Tree, (scientia potentia est)
An oversized knuckle-duster in marble with gold leaf inlay.
The piece was inspired by the apparent contrast between the Biblical God of the Old Testament and that of the New. The Latin text in the title translates as; Knowledge is Power, (a reference to the Tree in Genesis).
Green marble with gold leaf inlay.
