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Jade Townsend

@jadetownsend

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Artist @seasonaotearoa
Exhibition coming up @nasha.au

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I’ve been returning to Whitney’s writing on paintings (a snippet below), Hana’s essay on my last show for Art News, Cecelia’s text’s for each painting that was exhibited at The Sarjeant alongside my own (scrappy) notes and I realise that they need to all go somewhere irl. It is so generous to write about art, to give yourself over to the experience of it and battle through the challenges that words give. I’m forever grateful to our wordsmiths.

Leaning on this passage today as I prepare new works to travel to Australia soon.

‘Jade paints these tohu, recurring symbols, as fragments gathered and found throughout the show, offering up layers and layers of kura huna, hidden messages, like how a conversation with a wise motherly figure might go, not giving all the answers, telling by listening, leaving much to mull over, sensing in time the ‘aha’ moment will arise, when it’s meant to.’ - @whitney_anahera

Roots & Wings, 30 October 2026, @nasha.au

Detail : Castlecliff Swim, 2026 📸 @gretavanderstar by @jadetownsend

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17 days ago

Occasionally, my gorgeous friend Whitney sends me an awa update. It’s not entirely out of the blue—just one of those signs we’re syncing up our spiritual clocks while I’m busy writing to her about the moon. Whitney’s messages feel like they come directly from heaven, or perhaps Ruaka, a Whanganui ancestress, because Whitney is my highway to peace and home. There will be a photo of my awa, Te Awa Tupua, the Whanganui River, paired with a description of her mood. My favourite so far…

“The awa is so chill today. She’s calm and unbothered and may we all follow her lead x”

A good caption for this portrait and the photoshoot we attempted to do while our kids - who didn’t want to be in any photos but also wouldn’t stay out of shot - raced around 📸@gretavanderstar 👗 @harris_tapper 💎 @isaacteawa 🖤

E aroha ana ahau ki a tōku hoa @whitney_anahera ♾️🦋 by @jadetownsend

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22 days ago

🦋 What a dream, thank you Dan and the whole NZ Fashion Week team for including me in your opening show. I loved this gown by Vinka Lucas from the 70’s - a Croatian born designer who has a long fashion legacy here. I was invited to wear my own tāonga and I chose a shell from Neke Moa and a paua necklace from Jen Laracy. Thank you to all the joyous models who made it fun and relaxed. Best part was seeing and hearing my friends cheer me on - special night.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

The Art of Style, New Zealand Fashion Week 2026 @nzfashionwk
Photographer / Matt Hurley @matt.hurley
Creative director + stylist / Dan Ahwa @danahwa
Associate stylist / Courtney Joe @courtneyjoe_
Executive producer / Rebecca Lawson @bexlawson
Show producer / Sonja de Mari @sonjademari
Make-up / Emma Peters and Yelena Babich for Aleph Beauty @emmakpmakeup @aleph.beauty
Hair / Danny Pato (MNZM) for Davines @dannypatohair @davinesnz
NZFW Styling and Wardrobe Team / Julia Thompson @juliathompson11 Natasha Ovely @natashaovely Levi Tan @levii.tan Katherine Wang @katherimge Jemima Lewis Gourdie @mimalg_ by @jadetownsend

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a month ago

Matariki – A Group Exhibition

Hosted by Awahou o Te Aka Pūkāea of Te Uru Karaka Newton Central School at Season.

On Sunday Hayes-Ānaru, his classmates and our Season whānau celebrated Matariki (a bit early) with an exhibition before the school holidays. Hayes asked if the tamariki could put together their own show, curate, install and host it. Hayes, Taimona (red shirt) and his papa (artist @patrickeriklundberg ) came to the gallery early to set-up. They were decisive with their layout and encouraged eachothers choices along the way. They arranged flowers, put their favourite music on, monitored the heating and stood by the door to greet their guests.

Everyone contribute kai - delicious muffins, fruit, fresh bread and straight from the oven home-made sausage rolls. Water was offered with paper cups that had your name written on with a star.

The tamariki were so proud to share their mahi toi, they played games including running races, pretending to be Ururangi and shared the ideas in their work. We had, ‘Māori Mona Lisa with the sky tower’, ‘A samurai at dusk’, ‘Matariki in the style of @reuben_paterson ’ and many more!

Congratulations to all the artists - you are all so inspiring!

Huge mihi to all the tamariki, their parents and kaiako for preparing the mahi toi. Special thanks to @jocurrie for this koha of photographs ❤️

@tukncs
@seasonaotearoa by @jadetownsend

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3 months ago

Show closed 💗

Extract of writing from an essay by @whitney_anahera

“When I see how she paints the angiangi, tree lichen, gently hanging from the moon and connecting the Liverpudlian-inspired star formations adorning Te Mana o te wahine Ruaka I remember that river journey, us driving up the awa in the Jag, past Ātene, Tia’s marae, and Rānana, Jade’s marae – transliterations for “Athens” and “London” – these Māorified words giving an otherworldly vibe to the whole experience.

The drama that played out at Hiruharama that night when the burned bread sent alarm bells ringing through the convent, and we ate our roast lamb dinner with the racket playing out in our ears.

Next morning you could see the mist fleeing up the hills. Jade and I stood by the lemon tree, dripping in those soft tendrils of angiangi, a sign of good air quality, and the birdsong ringing through the tree announcing day and reminding us of last night’s drama.

We were counting them, there must have been 50, all different varieties: tauhou, tūī, miner, blackbird. All belonging to this one tree.”

Images by @samuel_hartnett courtesy @seasonaotearoa

Mihi @sarjeantgallery 💗 by @jadetownsend

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4 months ago

Joining the chorus of friends and collegues honouring the work of Wynn Hamlyn, Lana and his team.

Never too busy for friendships, collaboration ideas or independent business advice - they have been an inspiration and soundboard for my whānau. The coolest clothes, stylish retail staff, a changing room that became a breastfeeding pod (when Season was a neighbour) and many great art activations in the mix too.

Can’t wait see where things evolve to next ✌🏽

Thank you for not killing your darlings entirely and giving us another round of knitwear @wynnhamlyn 4 eva x

Some highlights….

Image 1-3: photographed by @matt.hurley
Image 4: Jade Townsend
Image 5: Emily Karaka as part of Whānau Marama
Image 6: Hana Pera Aoake as part of Whānau Marama
Image 7: Heidi Brickell as part of Whānau Marama by @jadetownsend

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4 months ago

“Townsend and her children, like all Māori, exist in a patchwork of encounters across the Empire, yet this is not always in opposition to our Māoritanga. Townsend’s work summons the words of Ralph Ellison, whose novel Invisible Man drove her thinking when painting these works. In that novel, the narrator asks himself, “What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?” Ellison is instructive here in understanding the ways in which Māori artists seek to make use of a double vision, as opposed to double consciousness.”

From Hana’s essay in the current Art News

- @fulltime_haututu @artnews_magazine

💗 @cecelia_kumeroa @sarjeantgallery @samuel_hartnett @seasonaotearoa @corychampion taken in Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery by @jadetownsend

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4 months ago

One month until From the Lion’s Mouth closes. Thank you to everyone who has supported this show by writing, visiting, photographing and encouraging others to go. I’m so proud of my hometown and the magic of our awa.

Kua hoki mai te ruru ki tōna kāinga / The ruru has returned home, 2025–26
Acrylic on linen in hand-carved
sapele frame by Emile Drescher
1250 x 850 x 55mm

“Her work exists in a nexus that speaks across islands, and the veins of water that link them together. For Māori, the relationship to our awa (river) is paramount to our understanding of where we belong and Townsend’s paintings allude to her relationship with both Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui River) and the River Mersey in Liverpool. They entwine the diaries of her mother, the diamond-encrusted craftiness of her nana, the eyes of a tekoteko and her son’s cheeky pūkana. Bubbling on the surface of each canvas are the sprawling waterways contained in both her body and her whakapapa, particularly the whānau-oriented narratives from around Whanganui including Rotokawau Virginia Lake, the wishing wells dotted around the city and the Higginbottom Fountain. Whakapapa expresses a horizontal interrelation of all things, given its translation into English could mean simply ‘to layer’. Townsend is aware of how this layering can be represented on the surfaces of these paintings and the inter-generational layering is without any hesitation; each brushstroke and whakapapa layer unified in care and thoughtfulness.

From the Lion’s Mouth is Townsend’s most personal body of work; it is also not intended to be representative of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi nor of Whanganui as a whole—it is first and foremost a body of work about her experience of being from and returning to Whanganui.”

From Hana’s essay found in ArtNews - @fulltime_haututu @artnews_magazine

📷 @samuel_hartnett courtesy of @seasonaotearoa by @jadetownsend

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5 months ago

Aotearoa Art Fair was deeply nourishing. I feel a huge sense of gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside our artists, to help people build their lives with art, and to unashamedly champion the vast creativity of Aotearoa.

At the Season booth, we celebrated the sovereignty of materials. The space was anchored by the earthy textures of Raukura Turei’s onepū paintings and Nikau Hindin’s aute, alongside the intricate forms of Shainey Moreli’s harakeke kete and Neke Moa’s powerful shell adornments. We were also proud to showcase Jaime Jenkins’ sculptural shelves, Maia Kreisler’s technical uku, Karl Fritsch’s cult rings, and rare works by the legendary Robyn Kahukiwa. Together - the booth sung! Magic.

Ron Te Kawa was holding space on Level 1 with his rainbow waka and Ming Ranginui’s car sculpture was parked up at Britomart. Meanwhile Hamish Coleman’s solo exhibition was keeping the gallery warm.

To our artists: thank you for your trust and the honor of sharing your stories. It is a privilege and a joy.

Thank you to my art husband - Francis. Jaime and Samuel for your professionalism. To @aotearoaartfair @somedaystudios @currentartmagazine @artnews_magazine And to @wynnhamlyn for making the coolest clothes. Adam for carrying all the domestic duties this past week. Love you all.

🖤 by @jadetownsend

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5 months ago

I’m heading home this weekend for Easter and will be spending some time at the exhibition this Sunday at 10am. I’d love to see you there if you’re around—whether you want to kōrero about the show or just catch up and connect in person. This isn't an official gallery event, just an informal invitation to be in the space together.

Sunday 5 April
10am
Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery

❤️

Te Awa Tupua photographed by @samuel_hartnett courtesy of @seasonaotearoa by @jadetownsend

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6 months ago

Proudly wearing my grandad’s shirt here 💙 next to a work about my Liverpudlian family, our divided football loyalties and the mythological birds which keep Liverpool and the River Mersey safe.

📷 @samuel_hartnett courtesy of @seasonaotearoa by @jadetownsend

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6 months ago

In conversation with @andre.chumko for @thepostnz

Whanganui landmarks appear throughout the exhibition. Were you consciously mythologising these sites, or do they already carry that kind of charged symbolism for you?

Repeating the patterns I once enacted as a child with my own children during the residency reactivated and reminded me of the spiritual and fantastical portals that were always there. Lying beneath a tree with your baby and watching the shadows dance across his face — the same tree your parents and grandparents once rested under — carries a haunting familiarity.

There is something in the light, the rhythms, the sounds — that tree knows you.

So, to answer the question: the mythologies are already there. I’m not consciously inventing them so much as recognising and responding to them. The sites already hold charge — layered with memory, whakapapa, cycles — and the paintings simply make that energy visible.

📷 by @gretavanderstar at home 🖤 by @jadetownsend

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6 months ago