Image credit: THE SEA INSIDE HER, promotional image with photography by Pamela Minett and compositing by Alyx Duncan
THE SEA INSIDE HER
Opening Night: Wednesday 14 August 6pm
24 July – 15 September 2024
AV Gallery
THE SEA INSIDE HER is an exhibition of paintings, poetry and a short film. It is an immersive experience about the fragility of staying in control of oneself. The work is a playful contemplation of Western society's relationship with nature – how we are affected by nature and our influence on it, while holding onto the idea that we are somehow separate.
Each piece depicts an older woman’s response to a wild animal encroaching on her domestic space. The works lean into movement and the fantastical within the mundane to connect with people on a visceral body-brain level. The artist aims to create a lyricism within the space - utilising performers, puppets, household objects and paint.
The concept was initiated by Pākehā artist and filmmaker Alyx Duncan and writer Michele Powles, in collaboration with producer Lani-Rain Feltham. The moving image work is shot by Gin Loane and edited by Adam-Luka Turjak with art direction by Robin Rawstorne. The music is composed and performed by Francesca Mountfort with sound design and mix by Vedat Kiyici. Compositing is by OhuFX and colour grade by Alana Cotton. Puppets are designed by Paul Lewis and performed by him, Alex Leonhartbserger and Michele Powles. The work features contemporary dance icon Kilda Northcott as Grandmother and Mateo Cruz as Child. Paintings are by Alyx Duncan.
Image credit: Lindsey de Roos
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Composer and Performer Francesca Mountfort
Public Programme:
Panel Talk with Kilda Northcott, Michele Powles, Luka Turjak and Alyx Duncan
Saturday 17 August 3:30pm
Upstairs Galleries
Hear the artists discuss their practice before the Tāmaki Makaurau NZIFF Premier of The Sea Inside Her.
Performer Kilda Northcott:
Kilda was born is Whakatane and raised in Kawerau. She trained in classical ballet and then pursued a full-time training in modern jazz and dance.
In the early 1070s Kilda studied dance in Sydney at the Bodenweiser Dance Centre. She then lived, studied and taught dance in New York City. After her return to New Zealand she became a founding dancer/tutor of Movement Theatre in Educetion, and also a founding dancer/performer and tutor of contemporary dance with Limbs Dance Company. In the early 1980s Kilda returned to Sydney to work with Darc Swan and to study yoga. In 1989 she became a founding member of The Douglas Wright Dance Company.
She has continued to work with choreographers, directors and artists, such as Sue Jordon, Lyne Pringle, Mary-Jane O’Reilly, Michael Parmenter, Heidi Simmonds, Alana Spraggs, Olive Bieringa, Otto Ramstead, Sally Rodwell, Alan Brunton, Alyx Duncan and Madeline Mcnamara. Kilda is the Associate Director of Bipeds Production with her friend and colleague Lyne Pringle.
Writer Michele Powles:
Despite training in law (or perhaps because of it) Michele has been a writer, producer, and dancer across the globe. She is the mother of two children, both equally obsessed with creating new worlds (mostly under their beds). A widely published author, she was the 2010 Robert Burns Fellow and as romance writer Michele de Winton, is the USA Today Best-Selling Author of sixteen titles.
As a screenwriter, Michele was selected for the Attagurl Talent lab in association with Toronto, Rotterdam, and Sydney International Film Festivals 2020/2021 and was awarded a NZFC Hunga Taunaki ā Rorohiko mentorship in 2022. Along with TENDERWOOD, her feature films WEATHERED BONES with Blueskin Films, and PUT A BABY IN ME with Miss Conception Films are optioned and in funded development with the NZFC. Her TV series IT’S A SIGN is currently out to market with Kevin and Co. Michele also wrote and produced shorts, GROWING STILL and, THE SEA INSIDE HER, both directed by long-time collaborator Alyx Duncan. TENDERWOOD recently won Best Thriller Screenplay at the 2024 New York Screenplay awards.
Editor Luka Turjak:
Luka is an experienced editor originally from Yugoslavia, and now based in Tāmaki Makaurau. In the last few years, he has edited TV commercials, short films, music videos (eg for Aldous Harding, Tami Neilson), theatre and art installations, as well as feature films (In Passing, Spring Interlude). His latest installation project was Gabriel White’s Motorway Flowers which was part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Most recently he edited feature documentary Pistachio Wars which this year was awarded at Doc Edge for Best NZ Emerging Filmmaker. Two shorts he’s collaborated on are currently a part of NZIFF: Briar March’s I See You is part of the NZ Best and The Sea Inside Her is in Short Connections.
Director, painter Alyx Duncan:
Alyx Duncan is an artist and filmmaker whose work navigates the rich intersection of movement and cinema. Her portfolio is a testament to her versatility, including critically acclaimed feature film THE RED HOUSE, multiple award-winning documentary and fiction shorts, and significant contributions to dance and theatre. In addition to her directorial achievements, Duncan's artistry extends to choreography for international productions such as MINECRAFT, THE LUMINARIES and COWBOY BEEBOP. Her work examines the complex identity of being Pākehā (settler New Zealander) while striving to be a better ancestor, and the challenges of motherhood in an environmentally challenged world. Her short film, a poetic portrait of her father "THE TIDE KEEPER," has screened in over twenty five film festivals including Busan, Melbourne, Slamdance, Annecy and winning awards FIPRESCI Film Critics’ Choice Award at Vladivostok, Best Short Animation at Warsaw, Best International short at Whistler, Best Film at NZIFF, Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography at Show Me Shorts. The film is also a Vimeo Staff Pick with over 40k views. A long-time theatre collaborator with writer and ex-dancer Michele Powles, they have teamed up to recently create short films THE SEA INSIDE HER and GROWING STILL, as well as feature film TENDERWOOD.