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00.Studio Sale
Because of where I live
What thrives on these soils (group)
Finest Fuchsias
Local Makers—Riverton
Local Makers
Bush Coat
A Gathering Distrust
Private Lodgings

Artist CV

2019Bush Coat
The Enjoy Summer Residency Exhibition
Enjoy Contemporary Art Space

31 July—12 September 2020
Curated by Sophie Davis

Exhibition text by Francis McWhannell
Art News article by Lucy Jackson
Otago Daily Times interview by Rebecca Fox
RNZ interview



Bush Coat is an exhibition of sculpture, moving image, and textile works. It follows two very different tangents: the memory of a woven bush coat Wells wore as a child, made by his grandmother from hand-spun wool; and Winston Peters' 2017 campaign, which called for wool carpets (which had been replaced by synthetic imports) to be returned to government departments and state houses.


From these points, the exhibition focuses on wool as a material entangled in Aotearoa's history, economy, and the construction of a settler identity. Drawing on carpet plans and furnishings within government spaces in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Bush Coat explores both the symbolism and myth-making around wool and its decline in regional production since the mid-1980s, tracing the state's relationship to the sector and the rise of synthetic alternatives and global imports.