In the Round: Portraits by Women Sculptors seeks to showcase and celebrate the work of women sculptors in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite the rich history of sculpture in this country, there have been noticeably fewer women who have pursued careers in the field, this is especially true for Māori women, who are underrepresented in both collections, exhibitions and public sculpture.

This exhibition aims to create a lineage of sculptors, spanning the past century, and to highlight the contributions of these artists to the field of figurative sculpture. They include Margaret Butler, Paereu Cornell, Allison Duff, Andrea du Chatenier, Molly Macalister, Shona Rapira Davies, Francis Upritchard and Ann Verdcourt. Each of these artists offers a different way of thinking about sculpture and portraiture in Aotearoa. Sculpture in the round refers to three-dimensional freestanding work that can be viewed from all sides, and this is one of the aims of this exhibition – to see figurative sculpture by a number of artists, who each tell a different story about sculpture in Aotearoa.

In recent years, it has become glaringly evident that the statues and monuments in public spaces are largely of men, and are often created by men as well. This is a widespread issue that can be seen globally, including here. The protests that followed the death of George Floyd in the United States led to the removal of several Confederate monuments, and this movement was also felt here in Aotearoa, where the statue of John Hamilton was removed in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Sculptures and monuments are not neutral.

Curated by Milly Mitchell-Anyon