Drawing is a passion for James Ormsby, he describes it as his first language and he is a master at it. James Ormsby: Whakapapa brings together the finest drawings James has produced in the last two decades, most of them measuring over two metres high.
In an era when artists are increasingly experimenting with new technology, Ormsby prefers to work with traditional organic materials – graphite, ink and earth pigments – things that his tangata whenua and Scottish ancestors would recognise. He carries out a huge amount of historical research and questions the significance of the visual symbols his ancestors chose to depict.
This exhibition will be the most extensive presentation of James Ormsby’s work in a public institution to date.
Photography by Pātaka and Mark Tantrum
