PAST EXHIBITIONS
PAST EXHIBITIONS
States of Carbon
March 11 2024
Ponsonby Central
Charred rock, Liken, In the language of mosses I & II
Group exhibition with Bryony Matthew and Emelia Clarke.
A trio of artists inspired by the rivers in southern Te Wai Pounamu to the waters of the Hauraki Gulf and the northern Te Ika a Maui, with the wild flora and fauna in between water-etched layers of strata, accompanied by a botanical narrative, connected through the exploration of states of carbon.
Cairns of Aotearoa
Summer in the South 2023
Te Atamira
Charred rock, Vandal, Gold in the awa, Tussock rock, Dew.
This sculpture draws inspiration from trail cairns, reimagining them as ceramic rocks adorned with unique narratives.
Each rock, though physically identical, becomes a canvas for a unique narrative. A diverse use of glaze treatments and etchings invites viewers to contemplate personal journeys and connections to the land.
Carving graffiti on mountain summits is a way for hikers to leave a personal mark, commemorating their accomplishment and connection to that specific moment in time and place. It symbolises a sense of achievement, capturing memories, and creating a link between the individual and the landscape. It also signifies a shared human desire to assert our presence, leaving behind a small, tangible piece of ourselves amidst the grandeur of nature.
The colours of the rocks mimic the palette of local summers, evoking memories of sun-drenched landscapes.
A reflection on time, history, and the transient nature of memories. This sculpture is not just be a static representation, but a tactile embodiment of stories, experiences, and the enduring connection between people and place.
This is Temporary
Stoned 2022
Broker Galleries
This is Temporary
“Shannon Courtenay creates ceramic works that are at first glance, utterly realistic representations of natural stones and rocks. Through selecting stones to cast that are already adorned with natural mark-making caused by metamorphism and smoothed by the changing flow of the Cardrona River, the works employ a readymade structure and template from a natural object created over a monumental time scale.
Yet, on closer inspection the works go in and out of degrees of verisimilitude and begin to reference the artist and the ceramic process. Cracks in the works, whether deliberate or not, are not seen as imperfections, but are instead highlighted in gold. Similarly, the fact the stones seem to have been “cut” to enable them to stand on a flat surface, results in kind of visual conundrum. We are completely taken in by the realism and yet also deliberately made aware that we are viewing a fabricated, sculptural artwork. This duality is heightened further by the realisation that something as permanent as stone, has been replicated in a material associated with a delicate fragility.
Through repeating the form of this rock three times in clay and yet subtly changing the surface of each work, Courtenay also plays with notions of the artist as “creator”, enabling three distinct, individual artworks. Instead of solely trying to reproduce all the characteristics of the original, each piece instead takes on a unique finish and patina of its own. Courtenay’s works are not perfect representations of something that already exists, but rather representations of the artist’s experience with and observations and memories of her environment.
For this installation, Courtenay has placed the original rock on the gallery floor, while the three ceramics cast from it are mounted on a plinth; the traditional art gallery mode of sculptural display. Following the conclusion of the exhibition, the original rock will be returned to the same spot in the river to continue its natural process of change and erosion, while these three pieces, which are snapshots of that rock as it is now, will remain unchanged and cared for within the context of contemporary artworks. ” - Broker Galleries
Surface of a Rock
Landscape 2021
Broker Galleries
“Hung on the wall like paintings, Courtenay’s large Surface of a Rock work reverses the traditional trompe l’oeil of painters by instead flattening a 3D object into seemingly impossible thin slices of stone surface. This work reveals a fascination of history shown on the surface of a rock. Years of movement, travelling for miles from mountain to river, but also staying still while rushing water softens edges and creates lines. This work is a study of one large rock that sits near the Cardrona River. The patterns on the rocks surface mimic the rawness and texture of the mountains that they came from.” - Broker Galleries
Dry Riverbed
Elam Grad Show 2019
One thousand ceramic rocks.
This work is a study of rocks from the Cardrona River. My ceramic rock making stems from concerns around human impact on the ecology of our precious lakes and rivers, and what this means for our future.
To make the work, I ‘borrowed’ eighteen rocks from the river - it is my intention to return the original rocks back where I found them. Although a small gesture, I believe that small things accumulate to make big change.
100 Rocks from the Cardrona River
2021-
100 editions of a rock from Cardrona River, a river located in the South Island of New Zealand. The rock was collected from the river, 3D scanned and returned to where it was found.
