ARTISTS
SOFTY: Textiles from The Dowse Collection
SOFTY brings together artists from The Dowse鈥檚 textile collection who use the language of fabric and fibre to unpick ideas of masculinity, labour and identity. Once used to belittle sensitivity, here the term 鈥榮ofty鈥� has been reclaimed to celebrate the generosity and tenderness of these textile practices. Softness isn鈥檛 just a material choice, but a strategy used to interrogate assumptions that textiles are for 鈥榮ofties.鈥�
The exhibition celebrates makers who tenderly weave stories, histories, memory and identity through textiles. From quiltmakers like Maungarongo Te Kawa (Ng膩ti Porou) to Malcolm Harrison, their works transform scraps of fabric into reflections on whakapapa, m膩tauranga M膩ori, love, heartbreak and personal struggle. Areez Katki and Steven Junil Park draw on craft to connect to their own family histories, creating works that reflect on identity and remembrance, and challenge hierarchies that devalue textile practices.
Turumeke Harrington (Kai T膩hu) and Jakob Rowlinson both use humour to challenge the status quo. Harrington draws on k艒whaiwhai patterns and everyday objects to open a playful dialogue about sexuality, cultural norms and whakapapa, while Rowlinson reimagines medieval tapestries through a queer lens, weaving Disney animals into contemporary fantasy. Daegan Wells offers a quieter reflection on place, industry and the changing fabric of rural life, while Gordon Crook鈥檚 collaborations with Lesley Nicholls brought an exuberant new energy to textiles in the 1980s.
SOFTY brings together artists from The Dowse鈥檚 textile collection who use the language of fabric and fibre to unpick ideas of masculinity, labour and identity. Once used to belittle sensitivity, here the term 鈥榮ofty鈥� has been reclaimed to celebrate the generosity and tenderness of these textile practices. Softness isn鈥檛 just a material choice, but a strategy used to interrogate assumptions that textiles are for 鈥榮ofties.鈥�
The exhibition celebrates makers who tenderly weave stories, histories, memory and identity through textiles. From quiltmakers like Maungarongo Te Kawa (Ng膩ti Porou) to Malcolm Harrison, their works transform scraps of fabric into reflections on whakapapa, m膩tauranga M膩ori, love, heartbreak and personal struggle. Areez Katki and Steven Junil Park draw on craft to connect to their own family histories, creating works that reflect on identity and remembrance, and challenge hierarchies that devalue textile practices.
Turumeke Harrington (Kai T膩hu) and Jakob Rowlinson both use humour to challenge the status quo. Harrington draws on k艒whaiwhai patterns and everyday objects to open a playful dialogue about sexuality, cultural norms and whakapapa, while Rowlinson reimagines medieval tapestries through a queer lens, weaving Disney animals into contemporary fantasy. Daegan Wells offers a quieter reflection on place, industry and the changing fabric of rural life, while Gordon Crook鈥檚 collaborations with Lesley Nicholls brought an exuberant new energy to textiles in the 1980s.
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