Holding Space

Jess Nicholson / Lucy Hunter / Locke Jean-Luc Unhold / Mollie Schollum at Hutch Gallery, Dunedin

Holding Space brings together four local ceramicists whose distinct practices explore what it means to hold, and to be held, through clay. Across a vibrant range of techniques, surfaces, and forms, each artist approaches the vessel not only as an object, but as a gesture of care, presence, and connection… one that exists in a delicate tension between fragility and endurance.

From bold, expressive structures to more intimate, figurative and tactile works, the exhibition moves between containment and openness, strength and softness, stability and imbalance. This interplay introduces a quiet tension that runs through the works, where forms appear to stretch, press, or resist their own limits. These pieces hold more than material; they carry traces of touch, memory, and process, inviting viewers to consider both the visible and the latent tensions within and around them.

In this shared space, clay becomes a language for both individuality and dialogue. Each work offers its own interpretation of holding, whether physical, emotional, or symbolic whilst also negotiating the tension between autonomy and relation. Surfaces pull against structure, gestures hover between control and release, and each piece contributes to a collective rhythm of form, colour, and energy that feels both cohesive and unsettled.

Together, they create an environment that is at once dynamic and grounded, where making is an act of attention and where even the most solid forms seem to contain an internal tension… something quietly held, yet never entirely resolved.

Holding Space is an invitation to pause and to reflect on what we carry, what contains us, and how, through form, we navigate the tensions that shape our connections to ourselves and to one another.

Sticky Earth

Bertha Artspace is an exciting new gallery and workshop space in Port Chalmers.

Te Ahikāroa – Artists and Stories of Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Dunedin Public Art Gallery presents Te Ahikāroa featuring works from their collection until June 2027. They have also published a richly illustrated new book of the same name featuring over 200 works within the collections, including ceramics by Kate Fitzharris and Paul Maseyk. Kate’s work can also been seen in the exhibition alongside works by William de Morgan and the Martin Brothers.

‘Te Ahikāroa invites viewers on a journey through the collection of Dunedin Public Art Gallery, shaped by artworks and stories that have been gathered together since the collection was first exhibited in 1884. This exhibition celebrates art and artists, the many paths that have brought their work to Ōtepoti Dunedin, and the possibilities that emerge when art, ideas and people come together.

Ahikāroa describes the continuous occupation of land through whakapapa, acknowledging the home fires which marked settlements and those who have maintained these connections across generations. In this opening space of Te Ahikāroa, photography, sculpture, poetry and waiata acknowledge mana whenua. In the adjacent galleries, artworks spanning centuries, cultures and vast geographies reveal the breadth of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection and the stories that gather here. 

Te Ahikāroa celebrates Aotearoa New Zealand’s first public art collection, and its place and identity in Ōtepoti Dunedin. This is a collection and institution grounded by a belief in art to connect people and ideas, and open minds to different ways of thinking. The exhibition reflects the journey of the institution, using works from the collection to tell stories of arrivals and departures, new foundations and relationships, and the possibilities that exist just beyond the horizon.’ Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Kate Fitzharris, Looking at things as a whole #6, 2023.

Milford Galleries, Dunedin: The Lost Garden

Featuring ceramics by Aaron Scythe, until 18th May.