Exhibition
IHI
Axel Iva, Te Ara Minhinnick and Ming Ranginui
28 March–19 July 2026
Three emerging artists explore ihi — a charged inner force — by moving familiar forms into unfamiliar roles.
Three emerging artists explore ihi — a charged inner force — by moving familiar forms into unfamiliar roles.
Ihi begins with a simple premise: when something moves, its meaning can shift.
Axel Iva, Te Ara Minhinnick and Ming Ranginui take materials and structures we recognise and place them elsewhere. Whenua (land) hangs above us. Plastic forms the walls of a Samoan fale umu (cooking house). Muka (flax fibre) becomes a belly button. Smocked satin stands in for a marae.
Each work involves a change of position — lifting, suspending, reshaping, rebuilding. Forms that usually sit in one place appear unexpectedly in another.
The gallery is not just a backdrop. The artworks occupy it playfully, strategically: shaping how we move through and see the space.
Through these shifts, ihi is present in the encounters the artists create — the energy that emerges out from maker through their material to the viewer.
Curated by Israel Randell and Ioana Gordon-Smith.
