Back to basics

Artist Kazu Nakagawa with fashion designer Beth Ellery at their exhibition [un]dress in Parnell. Photo / Babiche Martens

We live in a world of labels. We use them to describe people, places, behaviour. They help us communicate, give us direction and understanding. How we dress is, of course, also a form of communication and expression. And this is something that is causing leading artist Kazu Nakagawa much contemplation.

In the Bath Street Gallery in Parnell, a cabinet and three dresses stand alone against a bare background, distinctive in their simplicity, void of labels. This installation, [un]dress, is a collaboration between Nakagawa and fashion designer Beth Ellery, who he turned to in order to make the work which is the second in his "labelling" series.

Earlier this year, the Japanese-born artist, who has lived in New Zealand for over 20 years, exhibited the first installation at Waiheke Island's Sculpture on the Gulf. The piece, entitled showcase/Rangitoto, was, he says, "an examination of a connection between label and a reality. Something not just seen with your eyes but with your memories. People have different imaginations but because someone named it a long time ago, they can share something similar from that word, that makes the reality, the island."

The word [un]dress comes from how Nakagawa views language itself as a label that "defines, shapes and conceals us".

"I thought of many words from our everyday life for this project, but felt that language is like dressing - or undressing. It defines everybody - shape, height, concept, past narrative... I therefore chose the words 'dress' and 'undress' and wanted to create a dress itself - simple and nothing more.

"If the dress had too much particular character then it would be more than the word which just stands as it is. Because it is simple you can add freely whatever you want, even in your imagination, and that I like. If it carries too many things already, you can't do anything, you have to just follow how it is."

Nakagawa, who is considered one of New Zealand's leading artists, says his ideas come from emptiness and that's why he chooses to live on Waiheke Island where he embraces a sense of isolation. When he originally left Japan he travelled by container ship because he wanted to "feel the distance" of his journey. "I want to avoid that rush to the result and instead focus on each step, if possible. We get where we are going anyway, so it is every step that is the most precious thing."

A big step in the creation of [un]dress was the meeting with fashion designer Beth Ellery. For an artist who started life as a windersurfer designer, shifted to furniture then art, and has always worked with wood, glass and concrete, Nakagawa was extremely nervous about the move into the medium of fabric.

Could what he was imagining be communicated and made into a reality?

"I did a group exhibition with Marilyn Sainty years ago and she recommended Beth to me because not only is she a talented designer but she also has a background in architecture which meant we talked a similar language. Beth quickly understood and brought her knowledge to the process. It has been a very positive experience."

Made from panels of silk georgette and merino wool, the dresses are beautiful in their simplicity but they are not, reinforces Nakagawa, fashion. There are plans for two more dresses to be added to the installation and each dress is for sale with a limited edition of five for each design, thus allowing them to be made to size and worn to create a look that is as simple - or complex - as each individual desires.

•[un]dress runs until July 25. Bath Street Gallery, 43 Bath St, Parnell. Ph: (09) 377 5171.