Guest speaker: Dr Linda Tyler, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Auckland.
Bergman Gallery presents Nexus, a solo exhibition by renowned New Zealand-Asian artist Luise Fong, whose work has played a pivotal role in shaping contemporary abstraction in Aotearoa since the 1990s. Known for her deft manipulation of organic forms, material experimentation, and intricate surface treatments, Fong’s practice traverses the liminal space between microcosm and macrocosm. From cellular structures to celestial expanses, her paintings blur distinctions between the seen and the unseen, the material and the ephemeral.
Fong emerged in the early 1990s as a key figure in New Zealand abstraction, distinguishing herself within a male-dominated field that had long been defined by the hard-edged formalism of painters such as Gordon Walters and Milan Mrkusich. Her approach, by contrast, is fluid, gestural, and intuitively layered. She creates surfaces that are both delicate and resistant, often incorporating drilled holes and gilded embellishments in gold, silver, and copper leaf. These material interventions complicate the traditional painterly plane, turning her compositions into dynamic, multidimensional spaces.
Influenced by the writings of French feminist theorist Luce Irigaray, Fong’s abstraction resists rigid structures, embracing fluidity, ambiguity, and a sensuous relationship with darkness. Her restrained yet evocative use of black operates both as a compositional tool and as a conceptual void—one that suggests absence, depth, and contemplation rather than negation. In this, her work moves beyond conventional notions of decorative abstraction to engage with themes of presence and disappearance, materiality and transcendence.
Drawing from her Malaysian-Chinese heritage, Fong subtly embeds cultural references within her compositions. Elements such as dragons, lanterns, and the shimmering textures of ancient ornamentation emerge within her layered surfaces, asserting an aesthetic language that is at once contemporary and historically resonant. This negotiation between tradition and modernity marks a shift in Fong’s practice, where cultural identity is no longer a quiet undercurrent but an integral force shaping the work.
In Nexus, Fong introduces a new dialogue between abstraction and atmospheric sound, inspired by the ambient strains of Sigur Rós’s Saeglópur. The exhibition is an exploration of expansive spatial relationships—both internal and external—where metallic textures and cosmic references suggest an infinite reach beyond the canvas. Curator Ruth Ha describes this body of work as a crystallization of Fong’s long, varied career, a moment where past and present converge to form something both timeless and expansive.
This exhibition also features key works spanning Fong’s four decades of practice, contextualizing Nexus within her broader artistic trajectory. Through this, Fong reaffirms her position as a leading figure in New Zealand abstraction, continuing to shape and redefine the possibilities of contemporary painting while paving the way for future generations of Asian-New Zealand artists.
