The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper is the story of Catherine Daniels’ childhood trauma and sexual abuse portrayed through metaphors and sculptures. It wasn’t until she was nearly 50 that she realised her secrets made her unwell. She started to unfold the layers of her history through words, many of them in a metaphorical form. One day she couldn’t write, so decided to make a sculpture to portray what she couldn’t say in words. That day The Secret Keeper was born. By creating these sculptures and metaphors, she slowly unfolded her past in a way she was able to control. Each of the forty sculptures tells its own story. Through her works, Catherine Daniels hopes to start the important conversations needed to help others navigate their own journeys of healing through childhood trauma, parental neglect, sexual abuse, and mental health issues.

Esther Bunning is recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading story-teller photographic portrait artists and her works reflect the heart of her subjects by giving a visual voice to their story. Her signature style is recognisable for her creative use of in-camera techniques and she loves to combine the magic of blur, movement, abstraction and light to create poignant images that transcend photography. The Secret Keeper book received a Gold Distinction with the perfect score of 100/100 at the recent 2021 Iris Awards. This score has never before been given in the history of the NZIPP awards.

Terry Wreford Hann has created a powerful video which tells more of the story of the girls, and shows some of the creation of them also. The video was a finalist for the recent Parkin Drawing 2021 art awards.

The Secret Keeper exhibition at the Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art runs from 21 October to 20 November. Our event will involve talks from Catherine Daniels (author and sculptor) and Esther, some words from the gallery owners, viewing of images from the book and a new collection of images. Also on display is Terry's video about the project that was a finalist in the recent Parkin Art awards.

Numbers will have to be strictly limited so please register via EventFinda. Bring a cushion to sit on.