Shadow Shaper

A shadowshaper channels ancestral spirits into works of art. The light-absorbing blackness of Lonnie Hutchinson's signature builder's paper and powder-coated aluminum evokes Polynesian creation narratives. In Te Ao Māori, these are expressed as Te Kore (the great nothingness) and Te Pō (the perpetual night)—states of latent being and potential where consciousness gradually stirs within darkness. The appearance of light awakens Te Ao Mārama (the world of light and life) where we exist. In Hutchinson's new work Skin to Skin, the paper itself embodies Te Kore and Te Pō. The dense folds hold deep velvety darkness, with finely cut motifs letting light in. The pou-like forms echo traditional carving practices, with chevron and half-moon patterns evoking chisel marks found in Polynesian carving. Shadow Shaper includes four matte black paper cutout works drawing on Hutchinson's archive of motifs, alongside a selection of early finely cut works from her back catalogue, including shield works merging her Celtic and Polynesian whakapapa into circular protective forms.