S E E K artists James Ormsby, Bill Riley and Dion Hitchens, have constructed a ‘gallery within a gallery’ in the Wesley Wing at Aratoi, incorporating drawings, sculpture, found objects and light projection. The installation’s construction means the viewer has to peer through small apertures in the ‘gallery’ exterior to get glimpses of what lies within - transforming the idea of “seeking meaning” into a literal act. The installation originated at Gisborne’s PAULNACHE Gallery in 2010, and evolves at each new venue. The artists have developed new work for the showing at Aratoi, and Seek’s next stop is Melbourne, where new artists will be invited to participate.

Dion Hitchens says the artists come from different cultural and religious backgrounds, and collaborating on the work was a way to explore their different philosophical standpoints. The installation incorporates Christian, Buddhist and Maori symbols and imagery. “It was about accepting one another’s positions and working together to find a strength. We were interested in the idea of a philosophical dialogue,” he says, indicating that this will become crucial for survival in the future.   

Dion Hitchens (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou and Chinese descent) creates kinetic works and public sculpture. He teaches at Manukau School of Visual Arts and has work in the Auckland Art Gallery and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collections. His sculptures often incorporate supplejack, and have evoked Maori mythical figures of ‘patupaiarehe’ - fairies of the forest.

Bill Riley’s works are built up by applying many transparent layers of lacquer over a reflective lens-like surface. The coloured bands appear to recede and advance, conflict and harmonise, flex and curve. “[The works] are as much about light as they are about deciphering,” says Riley, who is represented in  the Chartwell, James Wallace and University of Auckland collections.

Words by Nick Banks - Curator at Aratoi