Peata Larkin
Peata Larkin
Kei konei koe_You are here
PAULNACHE
Booth E01
(Next to the Pommery Bar)
PAULNACHE presents a solo installation by Peata Larkin (Te Arawa, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her latest body of work, created for Sydney Contemporary 2025, is titled Kei konei koe—"you are here." At the centre of this new installation is Mahuika, a large-scale lightbox painting named after the Māori goddess of fire. Radiating outward from this luminous core, the silk paintings are arranged in stepped formation, echoing poutama, the ascending pattern symbolising growth, learning, and connection to the spiritual realm.
This tension, between intuition and control, permanence and ephemerality, is deeply personal and almost trance-like. “I never plan a painting”, she says. “I just follow where the materials take me.” Kei konei koe is an offering and a locating. It is a reminder that we are always situated: in bodies, in lineages, in time. To be here—before the work—is to be precisely where you’re meant to be.
Represented by: PAULNACHE, Gisborne / Tūranganui-a-Kiwa Booth E01
Detail photograph of Peata Larkin’s painting/lightbox entitled ‘Mahuika’ (2025) presented by PAULNACHE at Sydney Contemporary 2025. IMG X Justin Park
Painting/Lightbox_Mahuika (2025), Acrylic & transparent medium on mesh & flexiface membrane on LED lightbox unit, 167 x 111.5 x 8cm [ Light OFF ]
Painting/Lightbox_Mahuika (2025), Acrylic & transparent medium on mesh & flexiface membrane on LED lightbox unit, 167 x 111.5 x 8cm [ Light ON ]
Works
Catalogue
Peata Larkin’s newest silk painting entitled ‘A sign that you fought to be here’ (2025) Photo by Justin Park, courtesy of the artist & PAULNACHE Gisborne
Biography
Peata Larkin was born in 1973 and lives and works in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Peata is of Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Tuhourangi descent.
A graduate of the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, she completed her Master’s degree at RMIT University, Melbourne in 2007.
In 2018 Larkin was awarded the prestigious Kaipara Wallace Arts Trust Award, which provided a three-month residency at the Altes Spital in Solothurn, Switzerland.
Her work is part of important collections internationally, including the Memphis Museum of Fine Arts in USA and throughout New Zealand.
CV_Biography
Projects & Exhibitions
Acknowledgements
Special thanks: to our fabulous VIP Patrons!
Text: courtesy of the © artist Peata Larkin
Writing: Dina Jezdić
Media: Australian Art Collector
Printing: LIVE Creative
Photography: Justin Park, DOCUMENT Photography
Peata Larkin is represented by PAULNACHE Turanganui-a-Kiwa Gisborne Booth E01
