UNSETTLED GROUND
In Unsettled Ground, Zoë Marsden presents a new body of ten meticulously rendered oil paintings that transform overlooked and idiosyncratic buildings into quiet psychological portraits. Beginning with real places encountered throughout New Zealand and abroad, Marsden gradually strips away and reimagines their surroundings in the studio, allowing atmosphere to take precedence over geography. These are not documentary landscapes but meditations on memory, presence and the lingering sensation of a place that refuses to be forgotten.
Drawn to buildings that have outlived their original purpose, Marsden captures structures suspended between past and present, their weathered surfaces bearing traces of human lives once lived. Rich detail, heightened colour and subtle reflections create an uncanny stillness—paintings that feel both familiar and quietly unsettling. The title Unsettled Ground speaks not only to these buildings in transition, but also to the artist's own experience of belonging between places. Inviting viewers to pause and look more closely, the exhibition explores how architecture can hold emotion, memory and mystery long after its original function has faded.