Kate Stevens West

B. 1982, Kāi Tahu, Pākehā

Kate Stevens West, Drift seeds (2025) triptych, oil on board, 900 x 1770 mm overall $16 200

Distaff triptych - Mil; Kaeaea and Piharo; Isabella (2023), gesso, oil paint on canvas, 1670 x 580 mm $17 400

Rimurapa raft (catch) (2025) oil on board, 400 x 400 mm $3200

More (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700

Pōhā (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700

Whare rau temporary shelter (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700

Holding on and letting go (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700

Hold water (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700

Holidays Work 2, 2023, oil on canvas, 440 x 360 mm $1800

Untitled, 2024, gesso, oil paint and ink (rautawhiri berries, tarata gum, soot, kato & linseed oil) on canvas, 270 x 295 mm $1250

Artist Biography

Kate Stevens West (Kāi Tahu, Pākehā) was born in New York, in 1982. She studied at Otago University, and graduated with a Masters in Design Studies. She lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin with her partner and four children.

Stevens West paints whakapapa in an expansive sense that includes our mammalian ancestors and taoka species. She imagines a dynamic integration of past, present and future, a place where different generations meet to bump along in jubilant motion, collide, hold on and let go, in a series of transformative encounters, trailing talismanic objects, detritus and ideas.

Notable exhibitions include: Paemanu: Tauraka Toi – A Landing Place (2021-2022) at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, a landmark group show with work from over 40 Ngāi Tahu artists; Distaff (2023), a solo show at Bowen Galleries, exploring the relationship between her Māori whakapapa and European and colonial ancestors; and the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane (2024) with Paemanu Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts. Her work is held in public collections, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection, and the Canterbury University collection and is part of a significant new permanent exhibition, Te Waiatatanga Mai o Te Atua – The Song of the Gods, housed in the Observatory Tower at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, Christchurch, where five Ngāi Tahu artists tell the story of creation, as it was documented by Matiaha Tiramōrehu in 1849.

www.katestevenswest.com

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions