Amanda Mackenzie: Common Matter
April 2 @ 10:00 am – May 9 @ 4:00 pm
Amanda Mackenzie: Common Matter
2 April – 9 May 2026
DEPOT Artspace
28 Clarence St, Devonport
Exhibition Opening
Thursday 2nd April 5:30 – 7:30pm
Image Credit: Amanda MacKenzie
About the Exhibition
Artist Amanda Mackenzie with support from Creative New Zealand’s Early Career Fund presents a study of the humble egg tray, made for function from waste, endlessly recycled, the epitome of sustainability. Her process-oriented practice values modest materials, the dignity of work, and curation. “Common Matter” follows cycles of making, unmaking, and remaking. Egg trays molded from waste and shaped entirely by use look the same everywhere, belong to no one, and move through global systems in quiet sameness. In the gallery, they are stacked, clustered, and reconfigured into temporary structures. Community contributions form the foundation of these provisional structures that endure briefly, then collapse or shift, shaped by time, weight, and patient trial. A collective effort, a shared act of making that pays attention to what is already here. Paper, always every day and always extraordinary, sits at the center of this thinking. It is a material of flicker and contradiction, both surface and structure, ordinary yet charged, excessive yet necessary. Never truly blank, always already a palimpsest of labour, extraction, circulation, and reuse.
About the Artist
Amanda Mackenzie is a New Zealand artist currently practicing and teaching art and design in China. Time and trace are recurring themes in her work. She is particularly drawn to the tension between an object’s original state, its evolving identity, and the transformative processes that bring it into something new. At the heart of her practice is a commitment to spending time with materials, experimenting with how they can be manipulated, reconstituted, and joined to create new forms. Materials transform into objects through the processes they undergo, gaining purpose and identity through their handling. Her work reveals the often-overlooked processes and people behind everyday objects, recognizing that every item carries a story of creation and use.
Since graduating with a Master of Fine Arts from Whitecliffe College in 2024, she has held a solo exhibition at RM Gallery and a joint show at Studio One Toi Tū. Her work has also featured in Cost of Living 2.0 at The Kit @ Artspace Aotearoa, the 2025 Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, and the latest NZ Sculpture OnShore.
Artworks
Artworks for Amanda Mackenzie: Common Matter will be added to this event soon.
