Join us to celebrate the opening of City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi’s exhibition Messengers at The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. Hear artists Denise Batchelor, Brit Bunkley, Jane Dodd and John Ward Knox in a series of conversations with curator Megan Dunn, about how each artists work ask us to consider the ‘unspeaking companionship’ between humanity and other animals.
Denise Batchelor is a visual artist based in Hokianga, in the far north of New Zealand. Batchelor has an MFA (2010) from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Auckland. Working primarily in digital media, both still and moving image, Batchelor’s work reflects personal encounters within nature; quiet moments of reflection within which deeper connections can be experienced. She has exhibited widely in New Zealand for the past fifteen years, and internationally in Sweden, Germany, Italy, USA, Scotland and France. A recipient of artist residencies and art awards, her work is held in public and private collections.
Brit Bunkley is a New Zealand-based artist and videographer whose practice spans sculpture, installation, and digital media. A recipient of the US National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two NY state grants, and the Rome Prize Fellowship, his work explores the intersection of physical and virtual spaces, often blending surreal imagery with themes of history, politics, and environmental concerns. He has exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa and internationally at Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, FILE São Paulo (including 2025), and the Athens Digital Arts Festival. Recent exhibitions include Visions in the Nunnery, London (2022), Cybersculpture 2024 at Collège des Bernardins, Paris, and The Torrance Art Museum, LA (2025). In 2024, he won Best Art | Experimental Video/Film at the New York City Independent Film Festival. His work continues to evolve, embracing new technologies and alternative methodologies to challenge perceptions of reality and imagination.
Jane Dodd is a contemporary jeweller based in Dunedin. Dodd has a BA from Otago University and a Diploma in 3D design from UNITEC in Auckland. Since the early ‘90s she has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in New Zealand and internationally.
Her jewellery is largely a carving-based practice utilizing re-purposed woods and bone. Narratives from the environment and animal world, homages to historic crafts, critiques of modern society, mysterious plotlines, comedy and tragedy can all be found in her jewellery.
John Ward Knox is an artist living in Karitane, north of Ōtepoti (Dunedin). He has a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts and was the recipient of the National Drawing Award, in 2008, and the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at Otago University, in 2015. His work has been included in The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2020) and is included in New Zealand and Australian collections. Ward Knox leans towards materials and objects that are imbued with time and patience and are rewarding to touch.
