Shelter House by Grace Crothall

Exhibition preview: Friday 26 February, 5:30pm (pending Alert Level 1)
Exhibition talk with Jamie Hanton and Grace Crothall: Wednesday 3 March, 5:30pm

Grace Crothall’s Shelter House draws on an atmosphere, material textures and sounds familiar to the artist from growing up in the charismatic pentecostal movement in the 90s. The installation takes its name from a worship song of the era, which plays intermittently in the space. Crothall explores the interplay between born-again adult and child-like states within this community of belief, dividing the gallery space in two, and editing together text and design associated with her experiences of that time. Central to the project are pre-Pixar pop-cultural films and biblical narratives such as Jonah and the whale, as well as Children’s Church teaching resources, where fantastical, uncanny and moral themes intersect with allusions to the body. References to the gut—medical, scientific, metaphorical—underpin the installation as a whole, suggesting the ongoing metabolism of, and filtering through belief systems entered in childhood.

Grace Crothall is an Ōtautahi based multi-disciplinary artist. She graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts in 2019. For Shelter House Crothall has worked alongside Priscilla Rose Howe (design) and Mitchell Bright (photography). With thanks to Cameron Gray, Florence Claridge, Phil Jackson and Ben Dodd.