Kate Stevens West
Holdfast
30 September – 18 October 2025
The holdfast of Rimurapa (bull kelp) binds it to rock, so the tipu (stalk) can move with the current. But if it breaks free, it has another strategy: it floats, in rafts that drift with winds and water, carrying itself and many other forms of life over oceans, to distant shores.
Hold fast to your children, your grandchildren, your stories, your rock. And if, and when, you must let go, let it be to drift in the spectacular flow of whakapapa: mammalian, botanical, ancient, slippery, wet, and unknowable.
Kate Stevens West, Drift seeds (2025) triptych, oil on board, 900 x 1770 mm overall $16 200
Rimurapa raft (2025), oil on board, 400 x 400 mm $3200
Rimurapa raft (catch) (2025) oil on board, 400 x 400 mm $3200
Te kune (2025) oil on board, 450 x 450 mm $3400
Hold water (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
Whare rau temporary shelter (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
Pōhā (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
More (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
Dad's garden (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
Holding on and letting go (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700
He tai timu He tai pari (2025) oil on board, 200 x 200 mm $1700