Lisa Reihana
Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice spans film, sculpture, costume and body adornment, text, and photography. Since the 1990s, she has significantly influenced the development of contemporary art and contemporary Māori art in Aotearoa New Zealand. A Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, she has received numerous awards and fellowships throughout her distinguished career.
Part of Reihana’s Kura Moana series, this striking 15-meter wide cephalopoda draws from Māori mythology. It depicts the story of the giant female octopus, Te-Wheke-a-Muturangi, who is pursued and ultimately slain by the legendary Polynesian navigator Kupe. Traditions about him appear amongst the people of Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island, where he is famous for naming many places in Aotearoa.Te-Wheke-a-Muturangi, her scale reflecting the mythical octopus as recorded in oral traditions. She is hand-painted in maze-like lines inspired by Reihana’s contemporary Māori weaving patterns, the vivid reds symbolising the blood spilled when the creature was defeated. This magnificent installation references Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, the great ocean, and celebrates the role the ocean plays between Aotearoa and its Pacific neighbours.
Margarita Vovna
Margarita is a painter who maintains both studio and public practice. Through her work she seeks to communicate the unspoken, intangible and unseen qualities that exist around her subjects. Revealing more about the manner in which they relate to the world and the nature of a nuanced human experience than what a purely observational depiction might provide. Of Russian-Ukrainian heritage, Margarita spent her childhood regularly moving between the two countries. Exposed to a variety of environments, from rural Siberia to the warm shores of Crimea, she eventually relocated to Auckland in 1999.
Often autobiographical in nature, her work is a traveller's reflection of explored landscapes and cultures and part of an effort to establish a strong connection between her lived experience and her art.
..Milarky
..Milarky focuses within the realm of Nomadism and what can be aligned as ’the Return to Nomadity’ of our species due to the misled ability to care for the Earth. Nomadism being a response to the environment, an adaption through a generationally founded ability to attune to nature, as opposed to our societies current mind set to tune the land to our desired ways.
Shades Arcade
Shades Arcade is a New Zealand based duo that create immersive, interactive installation works for clients and audiences, made up of the combined forces of Julieanne Eason and Carl Pavletich.
Julieanne’s artistic practice started in video and spatial design for theatre and led to Games Development, while Carl hails from the design industry and Fab Lab community and now teaches Design at Ara Polytechnic. Together they expand the scope of contemporary artistic design and creation by using new technologies intuitively and cleverly, highlighting the inherent performative potential of any space and material.
Simon Godsiff
Simon Godsiff is an artist and filmmaker based in Auckland. His work explores the quiet exchange between human-made structures and natural systems, often using wind and light as collaborators. Drawn to temporary, responsive forms, his practice focuses on building just enough structure for the environment to complete the work.
Trace Element
Trace Element (Simon Holden) is a self-taught light artist specializing in large-scale interactive installations that blend LED, projection, mixed media, and sculptural elements. His practice creates immersive experiences that are playful, accessible, and designed for all ages.
Driven by a passion for interactive art, Trace Element’s multifaceted installations explore the intersections of music, light, video, digital media, space, and architecture—transforming environments into dynamic, participatory experiences that invite wonder and connection.
Originally from Canada, Simon travelled to New Zealand by sea in the early 90s and is now based in Queenstown.