Will Bennett, Procession, 2020. Oil on linen, 40 x 35cm. Courtesy: the artist and Jhana Millers, Wellington.

The paintings in Will Bennett’s exhibition Polyester Soldiers Stitch Witches feature alien-like neon green figures in strange, foreign, and almost religious settings. They might appear as something from a parallel universe, or at least a science-fiction movie. But the truth of their origin is not in another galaxy.

Uneasy, and at times awkward, the paintings battle with authenticity, history and re-enacting moments from the past. Bennett’s practice explores notions of the New Zealand Gothic, historical photography, memory and place.

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