New Ways of Being: Group Exhibition

To begin the new year of 2025, Gow Langsford’s City gallery presents New Ways of Being, by four rising contemporary artists from Aotearoa; Grace Wright, Aiko Robinson, Hannah Valentine, and newly represented artist Claudia Kogachi. Working across a breadth of mediums, the artists have developed distinctly unique visual languages within their respective practices, and New Ways of Being reflects a shared exploration of the self and the body.

Grace Wright’s abstract works connect to the rich history of expressionist modalities of the body within the act of painting. By working at scale, Wright asserts the presence of the female body, her gestures flowing as an extension of her physical form. Moments of tension in her body can be seen as coiled brushstrokes, or expansive energy is felt in the looser strokes. Wright holds an MFA from Elam School of Fine Art and exhibits regularly in Aotearoa and internationally. She was based in France for a period in 2024.

Connection to the body is of overt importance to the practice of Aiko Robinson. She draws on traditional ink and printmaking techniques, fusing her Japanese and European heritage in incredibly detailed portrayals of sexual intimacy within couples. These three woodblock plates were made in 2014, at the end of her Honours year at Elam School of Fine Art. She went on to undertake a Masters in printmaking in Tokyo and has exhibited in Aotearoa and internationally over the past decade.

Exploration of identity and the self is intrinsic to Claudia Kogachi’s practice, where everyday moments from the artist’s life or imagination are depicted through a unique visual language. Working in painting as well as textiles, Kogachi’s work delves deeply into personal reflection and connection, often featuring herself, family and friends as her subjects. Kogachi graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts with a first-class Honours BFA in 2018 and exhibits regularly in Aotearoa and internationally.

An interest in the human experience of touch and tactile sensibilities has led Hannah Valentine into a focus on sculpture and installation. Her work, often holding the impressions of her fingers, calls to the way our bodies shape our experience of the world. In this series, material investigations combine with moments of home, symbols of growth, nurture and connection. Valentine works across a range of media, often employing bronze at a personal scale.  She holds an MFA from Elam School of Fine Art and has exhibited in Aotearoa and internationally over the past decade.