Unwild Flower

Brie Rate

04.09.25 — 27.09.25

Opening Wednesday 3 September 5:30 pm

In Unwild Flower, Brie Rate presents a series of flowers made from found objects and organic matter. These are cast together in ice-cream containers using recycled paper. The resulting assemblages - grotesque but lovely, bizarre but recognisable - form an anatomically incorrect, yet strangely realistic flower garden.

While flora may normally be associated with beauty and ephemerality, here it is depicted using kurbside debris, including objects known for taking hundreds of years to decompose. Manipulated to fit within squares, the flowers appear at times to resist, thrive, or become disfigured by their unnatural confines.

Critiquing illusions of distance between ‘us’ and ‘the environment’,these works remind us that all of life is interconnected. Emphasising acknowledgment, resourcefulness, and invention, Unwild Flower is an invitation to reconnect with our surroundings and examine every overlooked crevice.

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Brie Rate is an Ōtautahi born artist whose practice includes drawing, printmaking and paper-making. Mark making is explored through pencil and ink, as well as assemblages of found organic and recycled site specific materials. Brie is interested in ecologies, and the intersection of natural and urban life. Her work examines the necessity of connection in built landscapes and often draws attention to overlooked or transitional spaces.

After graduating from Elam, Rate worked from her studio at Corban Estate Arts Centre before moving to Whanganui following a residency there. She has been a finalist in the Parkin Drawing Prize for two years running, and her most recent show, they saw leaves growing at Homestead Galleries, showcased over 30 workbook drawings documenting green spaces in Tāmaki Makaurau.

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Accompanying text by Brittany Hamilton

Poster Design by Harris Wilson

Current Exhibition