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Artist statement
Sefton Rani describes himself as a maker, who uses paint as his primary material. Based in Auckland, he is a visual DJ who mashes up industrial materials with Cook Island narratives, to create modern Pasifika art. His work blends “made / found abstraction” with various features of Mangaian heritage arts. Rani uses dried paint skins and industrial detritus as the main ingredients of his paintings. These paint skins allow the paint to record and display a unique visual density. He calls these finished works “industrial tapa”, which he says allows him to investigate his “Pacificness”. Sefton’s time spent working in a paint factory is a key reason for using this unusual material and understanding its physicality. In this environment he became acutely aware of migrant workers performing manual jobs to support their families both in New Zealand and overseas. Factories had become the new plantations of the Pacific people relocated into this new urban setting. Rani’s materials are painstakingly arduous to produce, however he embraces the intensity required for their manufacture as it adds to their emotional weight and hyper materiality. He uses this toil to pay homage and show labour is a material with value. |
Exhibitions
2025
McCahon House Parehuia Residency, Auckland - January 6 - April 6
Moana: Contemporaries from Oceania, Scott Lawrie Gallery, Edinburgh, group show, 16 January
Southversed, Fresh Gallery, Auckland, group show
PG Gallery 192, October 7 2025, solo exhibition, Christchurch
9 Cook Islands Artists, Mangere Arts Centre, December 13 2025, group exhibition
2024
[Astronaut Islanders], group show, Mangere Arts Centre
MADE, group show, Alberton, Auckland
Tangential Journey, Nathan Homestead - group show
Fa'aalinga Beneath the Surface, group show, Bergman Gallery
Makatea, solo show, Wharf Gallery
Tolu Tolu Toru, group show, West Coast Gallery
2023
Horizons, group show, Bergman Gallery
[Crossroads] solo show, PG Gallery 192, Christchurch
Industrial Camouflage [The Chaos of Hope], solo show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
2022
Epilogue, A Group Show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Xmas'22, group show, PG Gallery 192
[Windows into] Modern Pacific Art, group show, Northart Gallery
Aotearoa Art Fair, The Cloud, Auckland
[Moana Artists], group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
The Fall of Rome, group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
The Big Boys, group show, West Coast Gallery
The Ripple Effect, solo show, The Wharf Gallery
SENSATION_22 group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Heterodox Us, group show, The New Zealand Steel Gallery, Franklin Arts Centre
Fugitive Pigment, solo show, West Coast Gallery
Industrial Plantations, solo show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
2021
Tent 2021, group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery (online)
Spring Selection 2021, group show, PG Gallery 192
Silence is the Flower, solo show, PG Gallery 192
The Scent of Two Lands, group show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
Te Tai-o-Rēhua (The Tasman), group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
#Paint, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary
Ara-nui-a-Toi : The Great Road of Toi, solo show, Wallace Gallery Morrinsville
Corbans Barrel Store Pop Up Exhibition, group show, Corbans Estate
Open Channels, group show, Miranda Gallery
Industrial Tapa, solo show, Depot Artspace
2020
Christmas Show, group show, West Coast Gallery
Urban Tapa 2.0, solo show, Studio One - Toi Tu
Art in Lockdown, group show, West Coast Gallery
Urban Tapa, solo show, Lake House Arts
Poetry is the Drum, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
Urbanised Tapa, solo show, Franklin arts Centre
2019
Industrial Haiku, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
2017
Medicine Mondiale, group show, Webbs Auction House
2025
McCahon House Parehuia Residency, Auckland - January 6 - April 6
Moana: Contemporaries from Oceania, Scott Lawrie Gallery, Edinburgh, group show, 16 January
Southversed, Fresh Gallery, Auckland, group show
PG Gallery 192, October 7 2025, solo exhibition, Christchurch
9 Cook Islands Artists, Mangere Arts Centre, December 13 2025, group exhibition
2024
[Astronaut Islanders], group show, Mangere Arts Centre
MADE, group show, Alberton, Auckland
Tangential Journey, Nathan Homestead - group show
Fa'aalinga Beneath the Surface, group show, Bergman Gallery
Makatea, solo show, Wharf Gallery
Tolu Tolu Toru, group show, West Coast Gallery
2023
Horizons, group show, Bergman Gallery
[Crossroads] solo show, PG Gallery 192, Christchurch
Industrial Camouflage [The Chaos of Hope], solo show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
2022
Epilogue, A Group Show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Xmas'22, group show, PG Gallery 192
[Windows into] Modern Pacific Art, group show, Northart Gallery
Aotearoa Art Fair, The Cloud, Auckland
[Moana Artists], group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
The Fall of Rome, group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
The Big Boys, group show, West Coast Gallery
The Ripple Effect, solo show, The Wharf Gallery
SENSATION_22 group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
Heterodox Us, group show, The New Zealand Steel Gallery, Franklin Arts Centre
Fugitive Pigment, solo show, West Coast Gallery
Industrial Plantations, solo show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
2021
Tent 2021, group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery (online)
Spring Selection 2021, group show, PG Gallery 192
Silence is the Flower, solo show, PG Gallery 192
The Scent of Two Lands, group show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
Te Tai-o-Rēhua (The Tasman), group show, Scott Lawrie Gallery
#Paint, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary
Ara-nui-a-Toi : The Great Road of Toi, solo show, Wallace Gallery Morrinsville
Corbans Barrel Store Pop Up Exhibition, group show, Corbans Estate
Open Channels, group show, Miranda Gallery
Industrial Tapa, solo show, Depot Artspace
2020
Christmas Show, group show, West Coast Gallery
Urban Tapa 2.0, solo show, Studio One - Toi Tu
Art in Lockdown, group show, West Coast Gallery
Urban Tapa, solo show, Lake House Arts
Poetry is the Drum, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
Urbanised Tapa, solo show, Franklin arts Centre
2019
Industrial Haiku, solo show, Arthaus Contemporary Gallery
2017
Medicine Mondiale, group show, Webbs Auction House