Previous Exhibitions
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March 2026 - Further into the Forest - extended group exhibition
For March 2026, ZIMMERMAN is delighted to present Further into the Forest - an extension of last month's show, Into the Forest (February 2026)
The extended exhibition incorporates work that arrived after the February show began ... taking us on a journey "further into the forest" this March.
Commentary on each of the new works, and work details, are set out under the images below.
Gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday - come take a look!Further into the Forest
Featured works (in alphabetical order of exhibiting artist):
Dibble Studio
- Tribute: A Tui in a Kowhai Tree, bronze & 24 carat gilding, edition of 5 + AP, 400 x 220 x 120 mm
This small sculpture from the Dibble Studio, featuring a tūī atop a kōwhai branch, pays tribute to the iconic and much loved forms of sculptor Paul Dibble.
The gleaming kōwhai flowers, gilded with 24 carat gold, recall the sensory experience of discovering bright yellow kōwhai blooms in the deep green New Zealand forest.
A glorious sight to behold, kōwhai trees in bloom are also an important food source for native birds; from late winter to early spring, a variety of nectar eating birds – including tūī - feast on the golden flowers.Ian Chapman
- A Little Madness, acrylic on canvas, 610 x 610 mm
This painting brings together an unlikely collection of creatures in a surreal and unsettling scene.
In the centre of the painting, an owl peeks out from what appears to be a dark hollow ... but is actually a black balloon on a string, clasped by a massive jumping spider.
On the left, a black cat with a mouse is a nod to Picasso’s painting Cat Catching a Bird.
The trumpeting rabbit on the right is inspired by the decorated borders of medieval manuscripts. Animal musicians were a recurring theme in medieval marginalia, which often depicted a topsy-turvy world where the impossible has become reality.
Kirsty Gardiner- Understory Moths, high fired earthenware, each approx 110 x 190 mm
These four large moths are each fashioned from "farm clay" - earthenware sourced from the artist's own rural property.
- Unnatural History (blue cat), wheel thrown and handbuilt earthenware with gold lustre & china paints, 340 x 240 x 200 mm
Wheel thrown and handbuilt, this fantastical blue cat has become a comfortable companion for a collection of forest creatures.
Moths and beetles rest almost camouflaged on its highly decorated surface, while gold-wattled huia have made themselves at home on its shoulders, with a nest already boasting a clutch of speckled eggs.
Paula Clare King
- Into the Forest, acrylic on board, 790 x 560 mm (framed size)
"This painting is inspired by memories of my mother enforcing afternoon naps on my younger sister and me.
We would moan and kick up a bit of a fuss, sometimes trying to sneak away. Mum would always read to us, until we fell asleep. I remember many stories and illustrations that included 'going into the forest'.Thanks so much to my mum for those precious times – feeding us story, language and so much visual bounty."
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Come venture "Further into the Forest" with us - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday
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February 2026 - Into the Forest - a group exhibition
For February 2026, come with us Into the Forest - where myths, magic and imaginings abound.
Details of the works featured in this group exhibition are set out beneath the images below.Into the Forest
Featured works (in alphabetical order of exhibiting artist):
Angela Tier
Owl Candlestick, coiled stoneware, 355 x 300 x 110 mm
Brett a'Court
The Hare, oil on canvas, 400 x 300 mm
"The hare was introduced to New Zealand in 1851. In Celtic mythology, the hare was seen as a mystical shapeshifter and a divine messenger. There is a tale where a warrior hunted a wounded hare, only to find a beautiful woman. This led to it becoming taboo in Ireland to eat hares."
Cam Munroe
The Elder Keepers, engraved handmade moulding paste and gold leaf on canvas, 1040 x 790 mm (framed size)"In the hush of the ancient forest, gold drifteth like a dream
Soft upon leaf and hollow, bright on bark and stream.
The trees stand as elder keepers, their roots in stories old,
shaped by shifting coastlines and mountains long grown cold.
Here where shadow and gold entwine, the forest whispereth low,
a shimmer upon the mossy floor, a glimmer in the glow.
Light gathers in quiet places, echoing ages past,
a murmur of earth's old breath, barely a whisper as ages pass.
To wander this glimmering realm is to walk where time lies still,
where every gleam recalls what was, and every shadow that lies within."
- Cam Munroe, 2026
Catherine Manchester
Danu, oil on canvas, 850 x 600 mm (framed size)
In Celtic mythology, earth-mother goddess Danu is mother of the faery folk.
Jennifer Baker
- Life Support, oil on wood panel, 500 x 400 mm
- Rangiwahia Fungi No. 1, oil on wood panel, 200 x 150 mm
- Rangiwahia Fungi No. 2, oil on wood panel, 200 x 150 mm
"Fungi, I recently learned, is fundamental to the existence of life on earth."
"450 million years ago algae washed up onto the hard rock that made up primordial land, and entered into a mutually beneficial relationship with some fungi. Eventually this led to the beginnings of plant life, the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the increase in oxygen levels, which in turn gave rise to all animal life, including humans."
"My paintings are a humble tribute to the magical magnificence of fungi."
"The two small works are of mushrooms (‘the fruiting body… of acres of hyphae’), I came across on a bush walk in Rangiwahia. I’m no expert, but on consulting Fungi of Aotearoa New Zealand by Ruben Mita, Rangiwahia Fungi No.1 is possibly garlic shanklet, and Rangiwahia Fungi No.2 looks quite a bit like Hygrocybe species."
"The larger work, Life Support, is set on the Tawa Loop track - the popular walking track of Te Āpiti - Manawatū Gorge. A child runs playfully through the lichen-covered forest, unaware they are rushing past, over and through the ancient ecological underpinnings of their being."
Justin Cook
- Ghosts (moa), cast glass, 130 x 110 x 70 mm each
In Palmerston North, on a path beside the Manawatū river, are four footprints of moa cast in concrete. The original prints were found in 1912 after they were unearthed in a flood.
“Artist impressions of extinct creatures have always appealed to me, especially the really odd ones, or the versions that couldn't possibly be accurate. As our understanding improves, the previous incarnations of how we thought the creatures were, is replaced."
"These glass sculptures are my impression of what the moa that walked across the land near Hokowhitu might have looked like.”
- The Ascension, stoneware, 220 x 120 x 90 mm
"This sculpture explores the concept of post-apocalyptic survival on Earth, and the idea that cockroaches would be some of the few creatures that might survive nuclear fallout."
- Vulcanops (bat - from the "somewhat inflated" series), stoneware, 150 x 900 x 60 mm
"Vulcanops is a scientific genus that includes a single species of bat that is thought to have lived in New Zealand approximately 20 million years ago."
"The large bat was described based on a few fossils found in the St Bathans area of Central Otago. Using these fragments of the species as a starting point, this balloon recreation represents an imagined version of the bat’s physical appearance."
"Putting imaginary flesh to bone helps us make sense of the world we live in, and models - even those that turn out to be incorrect - are essential for us to do this."
Michele Irving
- Grey Wolf & Black Wolf at the Midsummer Werewolf Forest Festival, textile & mixed media, 165 mm / 175 mm high
- The Midsummer Werewolf Forest Festival (wall hanging), textile, 145 x 290 mm
Naga Tsutsumi
- Trader in the Forest, acrylic on paper mounted on board, 215 x 215 mm
- Trader in the Forest - Direct Sales, acrylic on board, 120 x 170 mm
- Trader in the Forest - Liquidation, acrylic on paper mounted on board, 215 x 265 mm
Naga Tsutsumi imagines a forest where green people and forest fairies live.
The green people have removable and replaceable heads, from which one forest fairy saw a business opportunity - purchasing heads from green people, and selling them to ordinary people.
But, as it turns out, selling heads is not an easy business – there is no wholesale market, and even those ordinary people wanting to buy them direct each have their own tastes and preferences.
With it being such a niche and tricky business, the forest fairy gave up and liquidated the business - giving away the whole stock of heads._____________________________________________
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Come exercise your imagination, and walk with us "Into the Forest" - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday -
Dec 2025 / Jan 2026 - All things small and wonderful - group exhibition
To end 2025 and welcome the year ahead, ZIMMERMAN’s summer exhibition celebrates "all things small and wonderful" - art works small enough for you to tuck in a tote and take home immediately.
As works leave the exhibition, new works will arrive to take their place - so this evolving exhibition will showcase a variety of works in the weeks ahead.
Come take a look this summer - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday (also open Monday 19 January for Wellington anniversary weekend).All things small and wonderful
ZIMMERMAN’s summer exhibition showcases works that are “small and wonderful”.
Featured works (in alphabetical order of exhibiting artist):
Angela Tier
- Black Robin Keepsakes, coiled stoneware, each approx 150 x 60 x 60 mm
- Oracle Dogs, coiled stoneware, with a secret message inside, each approx 100 x 50 x 50 mm
Brett a'Court
- Sir Governor Grey, oil on woollen blanket, 310 x 310 mm
- The Death and Salvation of Chief Haehae, oil on woollen blanket, 360 x 460 mm
Cam Munroe
- Bulding blocks, mixed media on laminated wood block, 255 x 255 mm
- Green trinity, mixed media on laminated wood block, 380 x 380 mm
- Many ways, mixed media on laminated wood block, 255 x 255 mm
- Red trilogy, mixed media on laminated wood block, 380 x 380 mm
Jennifer Baker
- I crown you, oil on found ceramic (wall mounted), 155 mm diameter
- Pebbles, oil on found ceramic (wall mounted), 850 x 110 mm
- Rosie, oil painting on found ceramic (wall mounted), 80 x 95 mm
- Skull and Bow, oil on found object (wall mounted), 110 x 90 mm
- Four untitled oil paintings on found ceramic (wall mounted), each approx 80 x 95 mm
- Moon Baby, oil on wood panel, 300 x 250 mm
- Things I'm Working On, oil on wood panel, 300 x 250 mm
Jeremy Gardiner
- Black and gold dragonflies (wall mounted), ceramic and mixed media with gold lustre, each approx 140 x 170 mm
Justin Cook
- Hold Your Colour, stoneware paperclay mounted on board, 75 x 170 x 80 mm
- In Case of Emergency (wall mounted or freestanding "impending doom bots"), stoneware & glass, each 110 x 75 mm (three of 12 shown)
- Secret Society, stoneware with platinum lustre, separates at waist to allow for stowing things inside, 150 x 90 x 90 mm
- Space Invader, stoneware with gold lustre, 110 x 70 x 80 mm
Kirsty Gardiner
- Cat Onesies, earthenware with gold lustre, each approx 110 x 55 x 55 mm
- Magnolia Vases, earthenware with gold lustre, each approx 110 x 55 x 55 mm
- Satin Moths (wall mounted), earthenware and mixed media, each approx 120 x 180 mm
- Whimsical Ladybirds (wall mounted), earthenware and mixed media, each approx 70 x 50 mm
Lee-Ann Toyokawa
- Johnson Brothers Jug, oil on canvas, 290 x 290 mm (framed size)
- Beefeater Toby Jug, oil on canvas, 290 x 290 mm (framed size)
- Goat Skull, oil on canvas, 290 x 290 mm (framed size)
- King George IV, oil on canvas, 290 x 290 mm (framed size)
- Mum's Swan, oil on canvas, 290 x 290 mm (framed size)
Paula Clare King
- Little Woman, oil on board with rimu frame, 275 x 275 mm (framed size)
Sebastien Jaunas
- Dancing Lines #1, steel, 490 x 140 x 200 mm
- Dancing Lines #2, steel, 360 x 310 x 200 mm
Tony Rumball
- Getting Warmer, acrylic ink on canvas, 510 x 400 mm
- Old Fellow Hitting the Waves, acrylic ink on canvas, 510 x 400 mm
- Ginger Cat, acrylic ink on canvas, 400 x 510 mm
Come take a look this summer, at this evolving exhibition of small and wonderful works of art.
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November 2025 - oil paintings by Jennifer Baker
For November 2025, ZIMMERMAN is delighted to present a series of eight small oil paintings on board by Palmerston North artist Jennifer Baker.
Jennifer's paintings celebrate the transient beauty of flowers, and the simple beauty of everyday objects.
In 2024 Jennifer won First Prize in Palmerston North’s Studio on the Square Painting Competition, following on from her receipt of a merit prize in 2021. This year Jennifer received a Judges’ mention of excellence in the Manawatu Art Awards hosted by Feilding and District Art Society.
All works in this month's exhibition measure a petite 20 x 15 cm.
Come take a look - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday, or view the works 24/7 through the front window. Exhibition runs until Sunday 30 November.
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October 2025 - Ian Chapman - Creature Comforts
For October 2025, ZIMMERMAN is delighted to present "Creature Comforts" by Ian Chapman.
The exhibition brings together an eclectic cast of characters - each designed by the artist, brought to life with 3D printing technology, then hand-painted with high quality acrylic paints.
The works fall into three distinct categories:
- Eleven "little folk" - small freestanding sculptures - ranging from 27cm to 31cm high
- Six wall-mounted heads - ranging from 42 cm to 56 cm high
- Two large freestanding sculptures - 80cm and 90 cm high respectively
Of these diverse characters, the artist says "For my part there is no deep and meaningful narrative I want to tell. I just want to present the characters and leave you, the viewer, to imagine their names, their stories, their place in the world, and what that world may be."Come take a look - gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday, or view the works 24/7 through the front window. Exhibition runs until Sunday 2 November.
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