Current Exhibition
For September 2025, ZIMMERMAN is delighted to present new charcoal drawings by Naga Tsutsumi.
The exhibition comprises three distinct series:
- Six drawings from "The Towers" (these are all in vertical format)
- Two drawings from "Shops in Wrong Places" (with unexpected shops in forest settings)
- Three studies of "Phantom Dancers" (human monsters)
Information about each of the works in this month's exhibition is set out beneath the images below.
Commentary & details
The Towers
Six of the works in this month's exhibition are from a series Naga Tsutsumi calls "The Towers".
The inspiration for the series came from a trip to Japan, when Naga returned to the town in which he grew up.
Naga noticed a lighthouse on top of Enoshima Island had been replaced with a new contemporary-looking lighthouse.
“It was then I realised that the old retro looking lighthouse was actually part of my childhood landscapes – without it, something was wrong, and the scenery with which I was so familiar was gone.”
“I felt like drawing the lost lighthouse in vertical format, and this idea eventually evolved into a series of tower drawings.”
“Besides actual structural towers, a tree can be a tower, piles of clothes can be a tower, a standing person can be a tower.”
“Drawing in vertical format is one of the styles that makes me realise I am so Japanese, because it reminds me of the Japanese writing system, with its top-to-bottom movement.”
“And there has always been a symbol tower in the places I have lived – first the lighthouse on top of Enoshima Island, then the Space Needle in Seattle USA, and now the clocktower in Palmerston North.”
All works in "The Towers" series are charcoal on Fabriano paper, 157 x 63 cm
The Tower - Dream over 70 generations
I don't believe night dreams are passed down through the generations, even if we share the same DNA - yet what if tiny fragments of memories or subconscious might be left in DNA, which might affect our dreams? I'm no dream scientist or psychologist, but this is what I was thinking when creating this work. What if that small girl at the top is having the same dream that her ancient ancestor once had?
The Tower - Goddess of Laundry
In this drawing piles of dirty clothes become some sort of Goddess and angels. Are they helping with the washing … or reassuring us it's OK not to make ourselves clean all the time?
The Tower - Housing Development
I hate housing development, especially when it happens in my neighbourhood. I love New Zealand’s old houses, and the unique contemporary designer houses, but not mass prefabricated ones. They look so temporary and short-term, and not like something that will become part of a city’s history. Sometimes I wonder whether the developers are even thinking about the aesthetics of city landscapes, and considering a city’s history and culture. After completing this drawing, I noticed the shape of the tower was a bit like the lighthouse that used to be at the top of Enoshima Island in Japan.
The Tower - Modern Times
This work features an impossible machine-like tower operated by people. The machine produces nothing, and the workers don't know what they’re operating or why. The title “Modern Times” comes from a Charlie Chaplin movie that I saw probably 30 years ago. Without watching it again or referencing images from the movie, I simply applied my vague memory to this work. The inspiration for the gorilla clinging to the tower comes from another classical movie: King Kong on the Empire State Building.
The Tower - Normal Life
This work, which started as a tree drawing, turned into a picture of co-existence of people and other creatures. Although I don't feel much life energy in trees in my home garden, wild trees in the native bush seem to have an intent to live and survive – in an almost creature-like way.
The Tower - The Witness
Is the giant woman standing on the top of the building going to save the city? Or is she the one destroying it? That was the question I asked myself as I created this work.
Shops in Wrong Places
Two of the works in this month's exhibition are from a series Naga Tsutsumi calls "Shops in Wrong Places".
"There will never be a shop that doesn't need any customers. But when we fina a shop in the strangest place, we wonder who would come here to buy anything? There mush be some reason for its existence."
"Although I've never encountered a busy shop in an odd hidden place, I wish I would accidentally bump into one: a hidden-gem-like shop, in a wrong and impossible location".
Both works from "Shops in Wrong Places" are charcoal on Fabriano paper, 90 x 160 cm
Phantom Dancer studies
Three of the drawings in this month's exhibition are studies called "Phantom Dancers".
"Are we all two-faced, deceiving ourselves without knowing? What are where is the real me?"
"Once you start to doubt yourself, you become less sure of who you are. Do I have a monster inside me?"
The studies in the "Phantom Dancer" series are charcoal on Fabriano paper, 74 x 67.5 cm
Exhibition runs until Sunday 28 September - gallery hours are 11am to 3pm, Thursday to Sunday.