Liam Gerrard Athenree Road, 2024 charcoal and pastel on paper, 142 x 101cm

Based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Gerrard is celebrated for his ability to wield a pencil, piece of pastel, or stick of charcoal to capture and distil the breathing, humming, three-dimensional natural world onto a sheet of flat paper. Elements that are deeply familiar, but rarely centre stage, come into sharp focus – the fuzzy patina of a moth’s wing, the crisping petal bonnet of a kowhai flower, the whorl of an ear, or the bent articulation of a finger.

Gerrard’s command of the human form is on full display in this show, with the re-introduction of figure studies that offer a statuesque yet ethereal presence. Poised, serene, and juxtaposed with feathery and delicate fragments; they reflect the artist having spent sustained periods of time looking over classical statues and religious paintings, reading gothic novels, and pondering historic approaches and attitudes to angels and the supernatural.