Source: Massey University
Bena Jackson and Teresa Collins, Afterlooking in the shed we looked on top, digital video, still, 2020. Image courtesy of the artists
Massey University alumnae Bena Jackson and Teresa Collins are launching their new exhibition titled Bound in secret knots next week at Enjoy art gallery in Wellington.
The new exhibition by Pōneke Wellington-based artists opens February 19 and runs until April 3.
Including new sculptural and moving image works, Ms Jackson and Ms Collins have set themselves the challenge to produce an exhibition from discarded goods.
The end result follows months of gathering materials— from requesting scraps from local businesses and collecting discarded items from pavements, to making use of online forums, and a public call for unwanted items held at Enjoy in July 2020.
The artists say they want people to relate to the objects in the exhibition, “some might be nostalgic, familiar and traceable to local environments, or spark the same sense of intrigue as coming across something discarded or free on the street.”
The use of found materials throughout the exhibition extends to even the small details; used nails and screws found in a cup in the gallery’s storeroom, and holes patched with plastic straws.
Ms Jackson says the materials used in their show have gained a curious value to them both, having seen the lives they have been a part of and places they found themselves while collecting them.
Both are graduates of the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ms Jackson primarily works with installation and moving images and is a facilitator at Play_Station. Since graduating in 2019, she has exhibited at Window Gallery in Auckland, and Suite Gallery, Mason’s screen and Toi Pōneke in Wellington.
Ms Collins most often works with painting and sculpture. Recent exhibitions and curatorial projects include exhibitions at MEANWHILE, Window Gallery, Precinct35 and Toi Pōneke.
Their exhibition is part of Enjoy Contemporary Art Space’s new 2021 exhibition programme alongside Areez Katki’s solo exhibition History reserves but a few lines for you.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Bena Jackson primarily works with installation and moving images. She holds a BFA from Massey University, and is a facilitator at Play_Station. Recent exhibitions include: Same thing everyday, with Max Fleury at Window Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau 2020; Golden light in the dairy, with Rob Cherry at {Suite}, Pōneke, 2020; One Who Goes Quickly, with Max Fleury for Circuit’s Masons Screen, Pōneke, 2020; and Storm water solutions, with Teresa Collins at Toi Pōneke, 2019.
Teresa Collins most often works with painting and sculpture. Recent exhibitions and curatorial projects include Hi Hi Walls at MEANWHILE, Pōneke, 2020; 6021/1052 with Gabrielle Stoddard at Window Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 2020; 2+2+2 at Precinct35, Pōneke, 2020; and Storm water solutions with Bena Jackson at Toi Pōneke, 2019. Teresa holds a BFA from Massey University.
ABOUT ENJOY CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE
Established in June 2000, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space is a leading independent contemporary art space located in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Located on Left Bank, just off Cuba Street, Enjoy generates and facilitates contemporary art projects to support the development of new work and promote critical discourse around contemporary practice in Aotearoa.
This kaupapa is carried out through exhibitions, an annual residency, an open call for proposals, offsite projects, public programmes and publications.
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Created: 12/02/2021 | Last updated: 12/02/2021
