Mount Gabriel, Ruby and Ash

Fiona Connor’s installations present collections of forms quoted from existing architectural languages. Recent projects have documented vernacular structures or objects from outside the gallery, while others investigate the architecture and display mechanisms of the museum itself. Connor’s work explores, within a sustained dialogue between location and representation, how specific environments condition our perception of objects.

Mount Gabriel, Ruby and Ash is a major new project across two sites: a field on Wallace Road in Mangere, and the gallery at 1/1 Cross Street. Connor’s outdoor installation (on a property called Mount Gabriel) is comprised of sculptures quoted from objects encountered in parks and outdoor recreational spaces. Brought together from isolated locations across the U.S.A and New Zealand, Connor’s custom-built replicas are condensed into an ad hoc sculpture park, or playground of vernacular forms.