Voices of Silence : The Architecture of Mist and Stone | Ina Johann
Ina Johann, our current artist in residence, will present her work and process at Deiglan Gallery on Sunday 23rd August at 1:00pm – 5:00pm! Artist talk with Q&A at 2:00pm. All welcome!
Voices of Silence – The Architecture of Mist and Stone presents a layered vision of landscape, creating a poetic dialogue. Restless ink drawings on paper find an active counterpoint in structured yet peculiar objects that hover away from traditional floor displays, reaching directly out into the negative space. The resulting installation functions as an unfathomable architecture of flux, a teaser of forms caught mid-gesture finding their collective configuration in the void.
Johann’s current project extends into a lab-like environment, exploring the psychological architecture of some of Iceland’s striking landscapes. For Johann, drawing is not merely a medium but a vital tool for personal navigation and spatial mapping. Her process pairs a restless, searching linework with fluid ink washes that bleed, pool, and dissolve across the surface, capturing the emotional weight of fractured island topographies. This deliberate juxtaposition creates a tense dialogue between structure and chaos, isolation, and ecological displacement.
In tandem, her multidisciplinary practice breaks out of the two-dimensional plane through a series of small, structural sculptures. Mimicking the strict, columnar geometries of volcanic basalt, these forms are manipulated to reject static weight. Her process focuses on the relationship between permanent geological anchors and the fleeting, evanescent forces that surround them.
New Zealand artist Ina Johann’s practice operates as an ongoing conceptual inquiry into our perception of place, memory, and the intricate notions of home and belonging. Moving between worlds, geographies, and cultures, Johann’s process-driven work deliberately functions within states of instability. By focusing on fragmentation and slow-motion observation, she prods at how we connect with and decode unfamiliar environments, mapping the unpredictable in-between spaces where contradictions coexist.
An established figure in New Zealand’s contemporary art scene, Johann’s career spans solo projects alongside a highly celebrated, long-standing collaborative practice as Edwards+Johann. Her work has been recognised through numerous national accolades. Most recently, her collaborative practice culminated in the major exhibition Mutabilities – Propositions to an Unknown Universe at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, New Zealand. She has been an invited artist-in-residence in New Zealand, Switzerland, Scotland, and France. She lives and works in Christchurch/Ōtautahi, New Zealand.
Further info:
@johann.ina
@edwardsjohannduonz
