Shadow Shaper

October 10 - November 8, 2025


Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - back gallery


Installation view - back gallery

A shadowshaper channels ancestral spirits into works of art.*  

The light-absorbing blackness of Lonnie Hutchinson's signature builder's paper and powder-coated aluminum evokes Polynesian creation narratives. In Te Ao Māori, these are expressed as Te Kore (the great nothingness) and Te Pō (the perpetual night)—states of latent being and potential where consciousness gradually stirs within darkness. The appearance of light awakens Te Ao Mārama (the world of light and life) where we exist.

In Hutchinson's new work Skin to Skin, the paper itself embodies Te Kore and Te Pō. The dense folds of the paper hold a deep velvety darkness—much more than the finely cut motifs that let the light in. For this work, Hutchinson notes, "the knife becomes the chisel." The pou-like forms echo traditional carving practices, with chevron and half-moon patterns evoking chisel marks found in Polynesian carving, particularly traditional Tangaroa figures.

The four matte black paper cutout works draw on Hutchinson's rich archive of motifs. In the realm of Tangaroa, the light and delicate Karengo is the shoreline seaweed traditionally harvested by Māori as a source of food. You Lead the Way pairs Hammer head shark—who never gives up—with a Polynesian shell pattern forming a more dense surface. Follow The Light offers her take on the classic Kowhaiwhai motif. 

Shadow Shaper also includes a selection of early finely cut works from Hutchinson's back catalogue. Deep Pools faces you as you enter the small gallery, telling stories of the whenua and featuring an early appearance of Hutchinson's well-known tanamonkey/taniwha motif. In the intimate space, the scale, precision, and fine detail of the works create a striking atmosphere of reverence.

The shield works merge Hutchinson's Celtic and Polynesian whakapapa into forms reminiscent of circular protective Celtic shields. They feature Polynesian plant motifs and the celestial bodies. In the work Sun Star Moon the motifs are light surrounded by the darkness of unknown parts of the universe, the places of potential.

Charlotte Huddleston

 

*see Daniel José Older's Shadowshaper

 

Selected works

Bull's Eye I Can See You

 

Follow the Light Let's Dance

 

Hidey-Hole Before Tonga o te ra

 

Tonga o te ra (detail) Deep Pools (detail)

 


Skin to Skin

Skin to Skin  

 


Karengo

 

Details of works