Michael Southern: Lost Mythologies

Thursday 10 September – Sunday 11 October 2026

Michael Southern is a painter and printmaker living in Waimakariri. He has shown work in our Summer Shows and retail gallery. This Spring we are pleased to present a solo exhibition of his works.

Please join us for the official opening on Saturday 12 September at 2 – 4pm. 

“The evolution of my work has gone from carefully observed black and
white landscape etchings to its current iteration of imagined landscapes
painted in oils that subsequently incorporated figures venturing through an
idealised world, participating in a newly discovered mythology.

“The figure in the landscape inherently alludes to narrative. Themes of
life, death, birth and rebirth are woven throughout these stories. I view the
characters depicted in this body of work as players in a new mythology.
They are treading in the same waters that humanity has grappled with in
attempts to explain its’ place in creation. I am relying on our shared history
of storytelling and our innate ability to imbue images with personal
meaning.

“At their heart, these new images are an attempt to sort through our
relationship to the land, to the world and to each other. That has always
been the crux of my art-making. We, as a species, are part of nature but
oftentimes we try very hard to distance ourselves from that relationship. I
am searching for that lost sense of balance in these images; a way to
reconcile our preoccupation with “progress”, possession and growth. The
well is deep.”

Living Portraits

Thursday 15 October – Sunday 15 October 2026

Living Portraits exhibition is a celebration of the people who make a difference in our lives. If you live in Waimakariri (or have a connection to the district), you’re invited to pick up a brush, pencil, or any medium and compose a portrait of someone special to you—whether they’re whānau, friend, mentor, employer or neighbour. Create a picture with images or words. No experience is necessary; this is open to all ages and skill levels.

HELLO DARKNESS

Thursday 6 August – Sunday 6 September 2026

Common Ground Collective: Catherine Day, Nikki Ferguson-Brown, Suzanne McDonnell, Kate McIntyre & Russell Perry

Ngā Kākano: View Hill School

Thursday 6 August – Sunday 6 September 2026

We are delighted to share artworks by tamariki at View Hill School.

“Inspired by the special connections in our lives, our Year 2 artists created these vibrant mixed-media portraits using paint and collage. The girls captured warm, memorable moments with their mothers, while the boys depicted strong bonds with their fathers. Through bold colours, varied textures, and lots of love, these pieces celebrate family, identity, and the people who lift us up everyday.”

This exhibition celebrates the imagination, creative problem-solving and skill of young local artists. Ngā Kākano is our annual showcase of art by children from our surrounding schools and homeschool groups. If your class or group would like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you.

Ngā Kākano: many seeds

Wilkinson & Adams_Photo JDudding_2017. MAA Darkroom.

Areta Wilkinson + Mark Adams
Collaborative Works 2009 – 2017

Thursday 2 July to Sunday 2 August 2026

Exhibited photograms are a partnership between Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāti Irakehu) and Mark Adams (Tangata Tiriti) collaboratively looking at taonga from Te Waipounamu in museum collections, and finding a form of art making that offers shared territory. Photograms are one-off images made by placing taonga on photographic paper and exposing them to light. The photograms are ‘shadows’ brought home.

Areta Wilkinson (b. 1969, Kaitaia). Wilkinson explores art as a form of knowledge and practice with Māori philosophies–especially whakapapa and a worldview informed by Ngāi Tahu perspectives. Her work is a continuous exploration of the narratives that shape her identity.

Mark Adams (b. 1949, Christchurch). Since the 1970’s Adams has worked with large-format cameras. His practice addresses the cross-cultural histories of our archipelago. Aotearoa, Te Waipounamu and Rakiura, New Zealand.

Top: The third eye (Anja chakra), mixed media.

MORKS: Enter the Void

Extended to Sunday 28 June 2026

Morks was born and raised in Hawkes Bay, and after moving South while being in active service, has settled in South Canterbury, at the foothills of the Southern alps.

A frequent fisherman and outdoorsman, Morks is an artist who creates his works using various materials and mediums from large-scale murals using aerosol paints, wild multi-layered abstract acrylic/oil canvases, wooden sculptures,hand painted skateboards and merchandise.

Morks creates his own limited edition t-shirts all made in New Zealand, engaging a locally owned small business who have supported him for many years.

After more than 25 years in the tattoo industry, traces of character and traditional tattoo images ripple through his artwork today, adding in unique colourway choices and patterns.

Current inspiration is drawn from his past success in the art world, fatherhood, family and friends, with nature and landscapes being his biggest influence.

Recently Morks has shown works at the Ivy box gallery in Queenstown, Limn gallery in Ponsonby, Fiksate and Flare galleries in Christchurch and was a part of the Shift takeover show inside the Christchurch museum.

Over the last few years Morks was lucky enough to form a very close friendship with (ONZM) Philip Trusttum. After many conversations about rugby and art, Philip eventually became Morks’ mentor, advisor and friend, lending many hours of knowledge and advice about the art world.

Traces of Philip’s work can be seen throughout Morks recent works.

Feels Good by Philip Trusttum, 1997. Pencil drawing on archival paper. Courtesy of the Artist.

Philip Trusttum: Drawings from Waituna

….and Drawings by his Friends

Thursday 26 March – Sunday 19 April 2026

In “Drawings from Waituna” Philip Trusttum ONZM records all the activity of daily farm life from horse riding, pulling nails to sinking posts. The Trusttum family spent a busy 14 years on 8 acres at Waituna with their three horses and two dozen sheep. As always, everyday life experiences find their way into Philip’s energetic artworks – in this case observed through pencil drawings on archival paper.

Philip is the celebrated patron of Oxford Gallery since its establishment in 2010. Most recently he has generously donated paintings for fundraising towards the continuity of Oxford Gallery.

Philip Trusttum: Drawings from Waituna and Drawings by his Friends.
26 March to 19 April 2026

In an evolution of Philip’s show, Oxford Gallery invites creatives who have known Philip to add a work and a memory for “Drawings from Waituna and Drawings by his Friends”. By doing so our aim is to give our community more time to reflect on drawings by Philip Trusttum and to farewell the artist himself.

Creatives who have known Philip Trusttum are invited to add a work and a memory over the exhibition period 26 March to 19 April 2026. Please pop in and hang the work yourself anytime during business hours. To keep things simple artwork is not for sale, must be discretely named with a phone number for easy identification and removal. Feel free to add any text to share.

On 19 April, at 2pm we invite creatives to join us at the gallery and share memories of Philip before the exhibition is slowly broken down that same afternoon, by 4pm (a model demonstrated by Trusttum himself). All are welcome.

Oxford Gallery is open Thu-Sun 11am-4pm

Our tribute to Philip can be found here

Image: Kris Walden, River Reflections II. (cropped)

Summer Show #11: Shared Currents

Thursday 4 December – Sunday 14 February 2026

Official Opening:  Saturday 6 December 2025 at 2 – 4pm. All Welcome!

Our annual summer exhibition celebrates the creativity that flows through our community; connecting people, ideas, and our environment. In a time where local connections are more important than ever, art offers a way to reflect on our shared experiences, our place, and our future.

With work by:

Kathy Anderson
Catherine Day
Donna Coster
Nikki Ferguson-Brown
June Inch
Louise Johns
Vicki Lucus
Casey Macaulay
Kate McIntyre
Mandy Palmer
Judy Rogers
Paul Smith
Deborah Tsavousis
Kris Waldin
Tessa Warburton
Pat White

This is a ‘cash and carry’ show where art can be taken away on the day of purchase.

POP-UP STUDIO: KOHA

Thursday 6 November – Sunday 23 November 2025

Official Opening: Saturday 8 November, 2 – 4pm. All welcome!

For five weeks, resident artists Charlotte McCone, Jacqueline Morren, Mandy Palmer, Pat White and Ange Wyllie have been working in the gallery, transforming an empty space into a dynamic studio and exhibition.

Over the residency, artists tested ideas, made new work, and explored their individual practices.With support from mentors and leaders in the Waimakariri arts community, the group have developed a body of new work and co-curated KOHA, which they are proud to share.

Koha:
(noun) gift, present, offering, donation, contribution – especially one maintaining social relationships and has connotations of reciprocity.

The concept and practice of koha derives from Te Ao Māori. Koha is often given out of respect or gratitude but what you give is not stipulated or predetermined.
The core principle of koha is that you are expressing yourself through your actions, and you’re offering the respect and gratitude you have for someone.

All five artists feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Pop-Up Studio at Oxford Gallery and look forward to being able to reciprocate through their exhibition ‘KOHA’.

With support from

Image: Katie Hallam, Hello Neighbour, 2025.

ARTEFACT

Thursday 21 August to Sunday 28 September 2025

Official opening:  Saturday 23 August, 2 – 4pm. All welcome. 

ARTEFACT celebrates community and collaboration with new works inspired by objects from the Oxford Museum collection. The result is an exhibition that is both personal and responsive in its engagement with local history.

Katie Hallam, Casey Macaulay, Tessa Warburton, Celia Wilson, Donna Coster, Kate McIntyre, Nikki Ferguson-Brown, Louise Johns, Catherine Day, Ange Wyllie and Ruth Stanton-Macleod were brought together by monthly meet-ups hosted by Oxford Gallery. Through these casual get-togethers for conversation and for working on individual projects, the artists found they had a shared curiosity about the stories and events that shaped Oxford and the surrounding district, and embarked on a collaborative project to explore this further. With the assistance of volunteers at Oxford Museum, the group has accessed archives, taken photographs and sketched the objects that they were each drawn to, and incorporated this research into the development of new work.

Some of the artists are lifelong locals, others are new to the area, and with this project they have all explored how a sense of belonging to a place can be built by knowing, sharing and reimagining its stories. In an era where community is often fractured or fragile, ARTEFACT reminds us that strong communities are made deliberately, collaboratively and with curiosity and care. This exhibition responds to the past, and just as importantly, builds connections in the present.

ARTEFACT is the first collaboration of its kind between Oxford Gallery and Oxford Museum and will extend beyond the gallery walls with a trail through the museum, directing visitors to the objects that inspired the works.

Image: Harley Grifton, Hoiho, 2025.

Ngā Kākano:

Oxford Area School Year 1&2 Art

Thursday 21 August – Sunday 28 September 2025

Official Opening: Saturday 23 August at 2-4pm. All welcome.

We are delighted to share artworks by tamariki in the Year 1 & 2 class at Oxford Area School.

Over the past two terms, the students have explored the vibrant world of Vincent van Gogh, learned about the endangered Hoiho Yellow-Eyed Penguin, discovered how children live in other parts of the world through The Water Princess by Susan Verde, and experimented with textural ceramics, creating pinch pots and pressed flower plates.

This exhibition celebrates the imagination, curiosity, and skill of our young local artists. We look forward to regularly showcasing the creativity of children from our surrounding schools and homeschool groups. If your class or group would like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you.

Ngā Kākano: many seeds

Image: Yinghua Jiang, Banquet. Courtesy of the artist.

What Has the Wind Blown In?

The Critique Group, Ōtautahi Christchurch

Thursday 10 July to Sunday 17 August 2025

Official opening:  Saturday 12 July, 2 – 4pm. All are welcome. 

A free demonstration and artist talk will be held on Sunday 20 July 12.30-1.30pm and all are welcome to attend.

Featuring: Ursula Dougherty, Anne Fountain, Maxine Inglis, Yinghua Jiang, Jenny Lee, Alison Lowe, Gaby Reade, Judy Rogers, Anne Spicer.

“What Has the Wind Blown In?”, explores themes of movement, migration, and the untamed nature of New Zealand’s weather. On one level, the exhibition references the relentless winds that shape the land, carrying flora and fauna across borders, including species from Australia. But it also speaks to the human stories of migration—the people who have “blown in” from across the world, including some of the contributing artists in this exhibition.

The collection is produced by The Critique Group Ōtautahi Christchurch, a collective of eleven artists who meet fortnightly to challenge and refine one another’s work. Through rigorous discussion and critique, the group fosters artistic growth, ensuring a strong cohesion across their diverse practices. Each artwork showcased in “What Has the Wind Blown In?” has undergone this collaborative process. Visitors can expect a diverse range of works, including paintings, printmaking, sculpture, installation, and glasswork—each piece offering a unique interpretation of the exhibition’s theme.

Caitlin Rose Donnelly, Hei Taoka nō kā Tūpuna, 2025 (II). Woollen blanket, Kererū feathers, feathers, muka, berries: Tarata, māhoe, and kōtukutuku flowers. Gallery view at Oxford Gallery, 2025. Image courtesy of the artists. 

Whāia te whānau mārama:

Caitlin Rose Donnelly & Piupiu-Maya Turei

Oxford Gallery Matariki Artists in Residence

Thursday 12 June to Sunday 6 July 2025

Whāia te Whānau Mārama is a whakatauki that calls us to follow the stars to achieve our dreams. Caitlin Rose Donnelly (Kāi Tahu) and Piupiu Maya Turei (Wairarapa Moana) have created new artworks that were called into Te Ao Mārama by reflecting on the Puaka Matariki season.

Caitlin focused on the physical presence of tūpuna as she considered Tupu-a-raki, the whetū, the kaitiaki of food sources from the sky. She explored what nurtured her tūpuna, both Kāi Tahu and Pākehā. A large kākahu adorned with white huruhuru and and three necklaces made with huruhuru, woollen blankets, muka and berries; honour the materials that sustained her tūpuna through kai, and through warmth. At this potent time of year, it is important to remember and find comfort in the fact that we carry our tūpuna with us always.

Piupiu created two series of prints, both the end result of meditation on the whetū Ururaki. As Piupiu meditated on Ururaki she explored the power of wind as an unseen but felt way to whakawātea – much in the same way we use wai Māori and other indigenous cultures use smoke ceremonies to clear blockages to enact action. Thinking about Palestine, Kanaky and the Toitū te Tiriti movement, she has manifested works to encourage us to take action and embrace the freedom of feeling the wind on our faces. No one is free until we are all free.

About

Piupiu and Caitlin are both artists and curators, who often work in collective or whanau groups, working together to bring shared visions to life. Their approach is grounded in tikaka as they prioritise and uphold values such as ata, whānaungatanga, tino rangatiratanga, and manaaki.

Caitlin Rose Donnelly (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Irakehu, Kāti Mako ki Wairewa, Pākehā) is an emerging curatorial artist in rural Southland, where she has picked up 113 feathers off her studio floor since January. Her practice explores her identity as Māori, an adoptee, a mother, and wahine.

Piupiu Maya Turei (Wairarapa Moana, Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi) makes artwork about the universe wide whakapapa web. Her works have begun to spiral around toi as rongoa.

Deborah Tsavousis and Paul Smith at Oxford Gallery 2025.

Deborah Tsavousis and Paul Smith

Thursday 15 May to Sunday 8 June 2025
 

Oxford Gallery celebrates the outstanding work of two of our volunteers.

Come along and see the many and varied paintings of Paul Smith and the intriguing, unique work in ceramics of Deborah Tsavousis.

About Deborah:
Through my younger years creativity was always important to me. I was searching for creativity via graphic design then fashion and textiles, but it wasn’t until I did a pottery course for adults that I found what I was looking for. Ceramics for me is a way of experiencing the beauty and complexity of life, and for me, the clay is the perfect medium to allow this process. The Japanese way of “finding beauty in every day things“ resonates with me and is my aim.

About Paul:
Paul works on a small and large scale. His works focus on texture and colour, created by extracting elements of the whole picture, turning them around, pushing and pulling them into new directions.

Isabel Ashby-Daniels, Tokyo drift from a feminine perspective, 2024.

FOLIO 2025: Oxford Area School

Until Sunday 11 May 2025

Oxford Gallery is delighted to showcase the art work of Year 11-13 students at Oxford Area School in our annual FOLIO exhibition.

Victoria McIntosh, The Desserts of Discontent. Image: Justin Spiers.

Victoria McIntosh:

Sitting Pretty – The Desserts of Discontent

Thursday 7 February – Sunday 9 March 2025

See also: Afternoon Tea & Artist Talk with Victoria MacIntosh
Sunday 9 March / 2 – 3pm / Gold coin koha

The Desserts of Discontent take inspiration from the early illustrations found in Mrs Beaton’s 1861 Guide to Cookery and Household Management, where sugar, spice and all things nice went into the making of these elaborate and fanciful treats. Here the ingredients take a turn for the bittersweet with the unlikely pairing of discarded silverware and second-hand spanx. Padded, painted and adorned with pearls, these objects that once told stories of aspiration and control have been reimagined to tell a tale of self perception and body image.

About Victoria

Based in her hometown Ōtepoti, Victoria McIntosh stitches together contemporary jewellery, sculpture and assemblage. A collector by nature, she is drawn to objects that carry a sense of history, whether real or imagined. Her practice combines vintage textiles and metalware to explore ideas around body image and autonomy. Victoria has graduated twice from the Dunedin School of Art, firstly in 1991 with a DFA in printmaking and again in 2005, with a BFA in Jewellery and Metalsmithing. Victoria was the Caselberg Artist in Residence, 2017. She has exhibited throughout Aotearoa and abroad, including Schmuck 2016. Victoria’s work is held in the collections of Te Papa Tongarewa, The Dowse Art Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum, Tūhura Otago Museum and Uare Taoka o Hākena Hocken Collection.

Image: Nikki Ferguson-Brown, Glowing Gold, 2024. Pressed flowers on handmade paper.

Summer Show #10: Arts Everyday!

Until 26 January 2025

The Summer Show is our final exhibition for 2024 and an opportunity to celebrate our community of creatives. Browse a wide selection of works for sale by local artists and explore our retail gallery. The Summer Show is a ‘cash and carry’ exhibition.

Featuring work by Bryony Bedggood, Donna Coster, Catherine Day, Riley Fagan, Nikki Ferguson-Brown, Heather Hall, Katie Hallam, June Inch, Louise Johns, Vicki Lucas, Casey Macaulay, Kate McIntyre, Jonathan Marett, Russell Perry, Lorraine Rooney, Paul Smith, Ruth Stanton-McLeod, Daniel Summers, Deborah Tsavousis, Tessa Warburton, Young-Oak Wells and Kay Whiting.

Pop-Up Studio: Common Ground

Thursday 14 November – Sunday 24 November

Pop-Up Studio 2024 artists present Common Ground, an exhibition of works created over just four weeks, during the Pop-Up Studio residency (began on 17 October).

Six resident artists have worked through the stages of Test, Develop, Analyse and Apply through individual studio time and wānanga to support each other in the development of work. They have co-created Common Ground, displaying resolved works alongside experiments and prototypes, with a working area so that they can continue to have a presence in the space and engage with visitors.

Supported by Waimakariri Creative Communities.

Find out about the artists here: oxfordgallery.org.nz/pop-up-studio

Micheline Robinson & Claire Wastiaux: Double Perspective – A Cross-Cultural Artistic Journey

Thursday 25 July – Sunday 25 August

Embark on an exploration with Double Perspective: A Cross-Cultural Artistic Journey, a touring exhibition with its associated workshop, Shapeshift: Exploring the Art of New Forms by artists Micheline Robinson and Claire Wastiaux. The two artists have been united in a chromatic visual call and response and the dialogue into which they have entered is determined by the creativity with which each employs their distinctive materials and overlapping interest in evoking new realities from fragments of their past and present experiences. A harmonious dance of colours results, which illuminates the complexities of constant relocation, amplifying the voices of trailing spouses or individuals navigating their own adaptation process. With the workshops, immerse yourself in a realm of creativity, introspection and resilience.

Both Micheline and Claire are professional artists with 30 years of artistic career each and 12 countries between them. When they met, they realised they shared a very similar history as accompanying partners, where their art practices and ambitions were compromised whilst juggling with adapting to new cultures, raising children displaced in new environments and trying to maintain their own artistic identity. Although continents apart, their brains documented the adaptation process in similar ways by focusing on light plays and colour, consistent and perhaps stabilising features in new landscapes.

Image: Alix Ashworth, I feel like I have something else on. Gallery view. 

Matariki Artist in Residence: Alix Ashworth

20 June – 14 July 2024

During the chilly months of takurua Oxford Gallery becomes a productive studio within a warm whare tapere that is encouraging of cultural experiences and learning environments.

For our annual Matariki season Oxford Gallery is excited to host artist Alix Ashworth (Waitaha, Ngati Māmoe, Kai Tahu) as our Matariki Artist in Residence.

Alix is a neurodivergent, indigenous, multimedia artist and mother of two situated in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Part of Alix’s creative process is to celebrate the knowledge and tools that their tīpuna used to thrive in this rugged terrain. Alix has had the privilege of being mentored by Rangi Kipa, exhibiting with artists from Paemanu and participated on wānanga with Kauae Raro.

Sharing the joy of indigenous excellence with their peers Alix brings these connections together through narrative sculpture, written word and adornment. Collecting skills in a range of mediums and crafts Alix is able to bring difficult subjects to life in order to engage audiences, allowing the viewer to emote through the work.

Oxford Gallery’s annual Matariki project offers further understandings of Te Ao Māori and explorations of mātauranga Māori via creativity. Pop in to meet Alix and see the exploration unfold.

A supporting workshop will take place on Sunday 30 June. Using native and invasive plant life, you’ll learn about materials that can be transformed into taura, lashing and cordage. Go to oxfordgallery.org.nz/activities for information.

More About Alix Ashworth
see alixashworth.com

Image: Detail from Ella Luscombe’s Art portfolio ‘Nostalgic view of 1950s’ NZ’

FOLIO 2024: Oxford Area School

Extended to Sunday 16 June

Oxford Gallery celebrates emerging creatives in this portfolio exhibition. These Oxford Area School students have achieved Excellence in their 2023 NCEA Art Studies. We wish them well this year.

Please support the students by attending the Official Opening on Saturday 18 May, 2 – 4pm. Light refreshments will be supplied.

Thank you to Oxford Area School and Charlotte Davis, Head of Department Art.

YEAR 11 ART
Isabel Ashby-Daniels
Alyssa East
Tessa Baard
Jack Benbow
Chloe Henderson
Samantha-Rose McKenzie
Ashton Moore
Samantha Sloane
Alexia Wilkie

YEAR 12 ART
Nikayla Beer
Gresheille Bravo
Ella Luscombe

YEAR 13 ART
Hannah Baard
Shanae Wyllie
Kyla Hirini – King

YEAR 12 PHOTOGRAPHY
Samantha Sloane
Ella Luscombe

Haruhiko Sameshima. Tidal sequence, Pickersgill Harbour, Tamatea/Dusky Sound, 1995 (#5). Silver bromide photograph

Tamatea – Dusky Sound 1995: Mark Adams, Darren Glass, Ian Macdonald, Haruhiko Sameshima

Saturday 13 April – Sunday 12 May
Official Opening: Saturday 13 April at 2 – 4pm

The existing exhibition titled ‘Tamatea-Dusky Sound 1995’ curated by Mark Adams was commissioned by Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland as part of the Auckland Photography Festival 2023.

Artworks are by four artists who travelled into Tamatea-Dusky Sound in May of 1995 to engage with the extraordinary environment and the cross cultural history that occurred in this most remote fjord of the Fjordland National Park in the southwest corner of Te Wai Pounamu – The South Island. In 1773 Captain James Cook visited the sound and met a group of Māori people who were portrayed by Cook’s artist William Hodges in a series of paintings and drawings. These 18th Century images represent the arrival and beginning of European vision and professional painting in NZ and as such are crucially important. Of the 1995 response, selected photographs have been shown at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Te Papa Tongarewa, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

This project is an excellent example of artists supporting artists, artists bringing a project of national significance (usually shown in main city public galleries) to North Canterbury audiences and the grass roots community of Oxford Gallery.

Image: Too Frightened to Open My Eyes. ‘Shades of Death’ Series No 9 (Oct 2023) by Stephen Clarke.

Stephen Clarke: Shades of Death

Thursday 7 March – Sunday 7 April

A nightmare, inside of a nightmare, inside of a nightmare describes well the sculptural explorations of Stephen Clarke. His metal fabrications depict phantom skeletal boats and figures made from upcycled objects that are both ghastly and intimately familiar. Clarke doesn’t pull any punches through his creative hallucinations, transformed into 3D these confront the viewer with refugee imprisonment and detention atrocities of Manus and Christmas Islands. Fascination and repulsion sit uncomfortably together as Clarke’s metal spectres of the Missing trespass inside the bright walls of Oxford Gallery.

About Stephen Clarke

Springfield artist Stephen trained formally as a sculptor (Ilam School of Fine Arts, Hons. Sculpture) during the 70s after leaving Hawke’s Bay. After 20 years working, teaching and exhibiting as a sculptor, in the 90s he began a self-imposed apprenticeship with computers, trying to make outputs malleable enough to fit his purposes. Returning to sculpture, the materials and methods Stephen drew from his youth have continued to inform his making, polyester resin from making and trialling surf boards, decoupaging inks, carpentry and work ethic. Now in his 70’s, time and environmental factors make further impact on Stephens technique, some artworks have spent long periods in all seasons are then upcycled, others dragged up a gravel road to build up surface effects. Stephen says, “The closer the surface appears to the objects we use daily the more intimate the conversation about art”.

Content warning:
The artworks in this exhibition may upset, awe, illuminate, confound or challenge people. The artist explores tough themes of refugee imprisonment, suicide, death, dread, and fear alongside opposing themes.

Caregiver discretion is advised: adults, consider checking out these artworks for yourself before bringing children along.

Summer Show #9: Let The Good Times Roll

Thursday 30 November 2023 – Sunday 28 January 2024

Please join us for the opening on Saturday 2 December, at 2 – 4pm.

Let the Good Times Roll is the final exhibition of the year and celebrates local creative talent.

The exhibition features work by Michael Abrahamson, Kathy Anderson, Elke Bergkessel, Donna Coster, Neela Curran, Sue Currie, Katie Hallam, Rachel Harré, Glenn Hartnell, June Inch, Louise Johns, Jonathan Marett, Casey Macaulay, Paul Smith, Henry Turner, Kris Waldin, Tessa Warburton, Joanne Webber and our arts patron Philip Trusttum.

Arts Canterbury Juried Art Show

Thursday 1 February  – Sunday 3 March 2024

Image: Georgette Thompson, Kea Driver. 

Pop-Up Studio

Thursday 19 October – Sunday 26 November 2023

Click here to meet the artists

For Pop-Up Studio, Oxford Gallery will became working artists’ studio for six weeks. This was a residency for a total of 12 artists. Each artist spent three weeks at Pop-Up Studio, bringing the gallery alive with activity and creativity.

Our Artists

From Wednesday 2 August – Sunday 10 September

Matariki Artists in Residence: Neke Moa and Paula Conroy

From Wednesday 12 July – Sunday 30 July

For the Matariki season, Oxford Gallery will host creatives Neke Moa and Paula Conroy. Artist Neke Moa is of Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Ahuriri, Ngāti Porou, Tūwharetoa Ngāti Matepū, Ngāi Tū, and Ngāti Whakāri. Paula Conroy (Taranaki) a creative writer and storyteller of Atua stories. The pair are usually based at Ōtaki Beach, they collaboratively research and interpret the Mātauranga Māori that ground Moa’s artwork. Neke and Paula will be working in Oxford Gallery for most of July as Artists in Residence.

Neke Moa has an unique Māori adornment and sculptural practice. Her pieces drawing heavily on materials found in, or given to her by, te taiao (the environment). Between 2016 and 2020, Neke taught shell craft in Fiji and Tonga. She continues to teach and learn as part of her art practice, which centres on mātauranga Māori, hauora, connectedness, and materiality. Neke was keen to accept an opportunity to be creative in the takiwa of her iwi, Ngāi Tahu.

For further reading, see: garlandmag.com/perennial/neke-moa/ and https://www.masterworksgallery.co.nz/collections/neke-moa

”Whakapapa is the critical connection to all things ‘here’ in te ao kikokiko and ‘there’ with ātua in te ao mahana. Our spaces have been created and continue to evolve through the mahi of ātua, we are integral in this mahi.” Neke Moa

Charrette van Eekelen: All Powerful Beings (Darholm vs Shivlack)

Extended to Sunday 9 July 2023

Using stitching as drawing, van Eekelen reincorporates painting in mixed media artworks, using both thread and paint over an array of fabrics and materials. Charrette Van Eekelen has re-imagined the superhero sketches of her son’s video game ideas into rich, textural assemblages. Materials have been sourced from all over the world and integrated with hand-stitched embroidery.

About Charrette van Eekelen 

Several years ago, artist Charrette van Eekelen moved away from painting to using fabric, hand embroidery and assemblage to depict personal and universal images and abstractions. Drawing on the craft-making histories of both commercial textile arts and private feminine practices of stitching, she explores themes of childhood memory, domestic space and personal connections to beloved paintings and drawings. In recent works created for her MFA (Master of Fine Arts) this year, van Eekelen reincorporates painting in mixed media artworks, using both thread and paint over an array of fabrics and materials. She describes her process in this way,

“I am uncovering layers, recalling what paint does on canvas and how to replicate that and then use that as a starting point, as fabric and material add something other: sensual comfort, the familiar, alongside the purely visual effect of the paint, fabric and thread. As I work, the layers and histories of painting and stitching connect, giving my mind the pleasure of seeing which is which, while dwelling in abstracted images and an atmospheric sense of place. Memories and auto-fictions merge with layers, edits, appropriations and reconstructed images, holding the place of the familiar, and its extension.”

FOLIO 2023: Oxford Area School

Thursday 30 March – Sunday 30 April 

Oxford Area School students who have achieved Excellence in their 2022 NCEA Art studies will exhibit their art portfolios at Oxford Gallery.

Image: Detail from Cailey Hollard’s 2023 FOLIO.

The Tree of Life Project by Miranda Brown

Thursday 16 February – Sunday 12 March 2023

“I am Nature.”

In this immersive space you will be invited to explore what it means to be nature and to respond to the question, “What is our relationship to nature?“

As an Artist and Regenerative Designer, Miranda Brown’s creative practice inspires people to connect with nature, to reflect and take care.

“Essentially my art is all about connecting people to the beauty of nature, to enhance wellbeing and to inspire people to look after our natural world. The focus of my work is the flora and fauna of Aotearoa, the native manu (birds) and the patterns held within nature’s design, known as sacred geometry.”

Miranda Brown has been a leader in the sustainable design movement in New Zealand for the past two decades and is driven by regenerative design principles that look after nature and all life.

Supported by Waimakariri Creative Communities.

North Canterbury Wearable Arts Winners at Oxford Gallery

22 September – 9 October

A display of the winning entries of this year’s North Canterbury Wearable Arts.

No2 ART TRAMP SHOW

25 August – 18 September 2022

Opening 3pm Sat 27 August. Artist talks and events Sun 28 August. All Welcome.

No2 ART TRAMP SHOW brings together two endeavours: individual art practices and a group practice of standing up next to the mountain and risking one’s neck!

Mark Adams, Greta Anderson, Eymard Bradley, Mitchell Bright, Mary-Louise Browne, Conor Clarke, Bruce Connew, Chris Corson-Scott, Bret de Thier, Jane Dodd, Beth Ellery, Marti Friedlander, Samuel Hartnett, Murray Hedwig, Ella Hickford, Craig Hilton, Joseph Jowitt, Jae-Hoon Lee, Ian Macdonald, Richard Mahoney, Andrew McLeod, John Miller, Haruhiko Sameshima, Stephanie Sheehan, Ann Shelton, Timothy Veling, and Hannah Watkinson.

Over the opening weekend the tramping artists were in residence before heading onto the hills. They held gear talks, a boot repair demonstration with field cooking, film and slideshows of their tramping trips. 

Image: Marti Friedlander (1928-2016)
Tramping, Arthur’s Pass, South Island (n.d). (from Larks in a Paradise (1974) p64)

Matthew McIntyre-Wilson: Matariki Artist in Residence at Oxford Gallery

30 June – 7 August 2022

We are now in the winter season of Takurua which is the perfect time to learn mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to extend skills and make use of those materials prepared over summer. Matthew McIntyre-Wilson (Taranaki, Nga Mahanga and Titahi) is turning the gallery into his studio and creating new artwork on site.

Matthew has unpacked his experiments called tauira, a term often given to a learner but in this case they are feathered samples to learn from. The objective now is to apply these learned techniques to create new works. The artist will not only be making in the gallery but dashing off to local museums for research.

Working across the disciplines of jewellery, craft, and object-making, Matthew re-articulates the forms, patterns and practice of raranga whakairo (plaiting) with precious metals. His projects most often are designed to reconnect with the unknown maker of taonga Māori held in Museums collections. Matthew re-examines past customary techniques and takes these forward.

This exhibition is supported by Te Puni Kōkiri.

Image courtesy of the artist.

Philip Trusttum: What Are You Doing!

14 April – 19 June 2022

Everyday life experiences find their way into Philip Trusttum’s paintings often worked into semi abstract form. Trusttum’s works are large-scale and energetic, on unstretched canvas. His subject matter has ranged from landscapes to tennis, gardening to horses to Japanese masks and portraits. With 50+ years of art experience behind his current works Trusttum has an exemplary practice that makes a huge contribution to the cultural life of communities in Canterbury and Oxford Gallery in particular.

Image: Way To Go, Philip Trusttum. Acrylic on canvas.

Summer Show #7: A Sense of Wellbeing

2 December – 30 January 2021

A group exhibition including artworks by Kevin Bull, Miranda Brown, Jann Collins, Sue Currie, Jo Ogier, Marilyn Rea-Menzies, Adrienne Rewi, Paul Smith, Soon-Lee Spicer, Charrette van Eekelen, Kris Waldin and others.

Open House Printmakers : New Work

Kathy Anderson, Jo Ernsten, Casey Macaulay, Ruth Stanton-Mcleod, Kris Waldin, Tessa Warburton & Celia Wilson

7-24 October 2021

Pottery Project 2021

Interested to learn about ceramics? Please let us know.

Our kiln gifted by Oxford Area School is now housed in a new kiln shed funded by Rata Foundation. Artist Ruth Stanton-McLeod is assisting us to develop the facility and a ceramics program.

Ceramic images courtesy of Ruth Stanton Mcleod

Oxford Papermakers:

Waiaraki Eyre River Project

Alison Fleetwood, Katie Hallam, June Inch, Casey Macaulay, Elaine Steenhart, Tessa Warburton and Celia Wilson

4-28 November 2021

This project explores the contrasting beauty of Waiaraki Eyre River and our human impact on its ecosystem, via the medium of handmade paper.

Oxford Papermakers meet regularly to make paper from scratch, with new and recycled materials. They use tried-and-tested fibres such as Harakeke and embark on experiments like the ones displayed in this project; the invasive plants found on the local riverbed.

The exhibition includes painting, sculpture, handmade books, printmaking, photography and documentation.

An exhibition of work by artists of Christchurch Men’s, Christchurch Women’s and Rolleston Prisons

19 August – 31 October 2021

Artists were encouraged to use the mediums available to them; some were limited to paper and pen and others extended to paint, metal, carvings, wool and other materials. The resulting collection of over 50 art pieces is bold, strong, bright and meaningful.

Proceeds from the sale of artworks were donated to the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust.

Nigel Borell: Haumanu Hauora

Artist in Residence at Arts in Oxford

24 June – 15 August 2021

Nigel Borell (Pirirakau, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whakatōhea) explores ideas about the land, people and cosmological ties to both through an evolving painting installation. Haumanu Hauora is an expression that speaks to health and wellbeing.

Folio : Oxford Area School

6 May – 20 June 2021

An exhibition of Oxford Area School, NCEA Art portfolios by students achieving Excellence.

Henry Turner Heaven Drawings

18 March – 2 May 2021

Drawing from the classics of philosophy and mythology, art history and local content Canterbury artist Henry Turner creates his own symbols of heaven and enlightenment. Painted works with evocative iconography respond to these knowledge systems mixed with his own experiences of the world.

Life of Ron :

Photographs from the 60’s & 70’s

by Ron Hazlehurst

28 January 2021 – 14 March 2021

Personal encounters with Christchurch townscape, environs and it’s denizens.

Summer Show #6, Community of Creatives

13 November 2020 – 24 January 2021

A group exhibition celebrating our community of creatives. Awhi mai, awhi atu, tatou, tatou e. We all help one another.

Philip Trusttum, what have we got here

18 September – 8 November 2020

Open House – Artist in Residence Project

10 July – 13 September 2020

Open House starts with an evolving print studio in action with local printmakers to promote contemporary ideas about creativity and community arts. Visit us and see prints in progress, guest artists at work. Part installation, part exhibition, part demonstration – the works produced and displayed will evolve as the project grows.

Vantage Point

21 March – 3 May 2020

A group show featuring five Christchurch based artists all with very singular and distinctive approaches.

Rebecca Harris, Marie Le Lievre, Michael Springer, Martin Whitworth and David Woodings.

Vantage Point being both a high place providing a good clear outlook and a particular point of view.

Marilyn Rea-Menzies: Extinction is Forever

1 February – 15 March 2020

A mixed media exhibition featuring NZ’s endangered birds with tapestries, paintings, drawings and digital works.

Soul Sistas: Nine Māori Women Artists

15 June – 21 July 2019

Arts in Oxford celebrates Matariki the Māori New Year with an exhibition of customary and contemporary art forms such as raranga weaving, painting and object. This multi-media exhibition draws on the aho sacred threads of whānaungatanga kinship, auahatanga creativity, whakapapa genealogical concepts and mātauranga Māori knowledge, the nine artists share and work with.

Featured Artists: Paula Rigby, Piri Cowie, Rahera Clark, Madia Purvis-Manihera, Lisa Aumua, Corabelle Summerstom, Lisa Harding, Kim Rigby and Helena Rollo.

Locality

9 June – 10 July 2018

A group exhibition exploring location, materiality and positioning.

Featuring artists Mark Adams, Tony Bond, Cheryl Lucas, Mike Boot, Elfi Spiewack, Tessa Warburton and Celia Wilson.