IF I HAD A BAND IT

       WOULDN’T SOUND LIKE

       ANYTHING AT ALL, IT

 WOULD JUST SOUND LIKE

       AIR JUST AIR AND THE 

     EARTH AROUND ME. IT

      WOULD BE MY INSIDES.

I COULD TASTE EARTH FLIRT 

  IN THE AIR. I WOULD DO 

    IT FLANA CHLOA STYLE.

IT WOULDN’T EVEN MATTER

   WHAT PEOPLE SAID BC IT WOULD BE PURE

– Odwalla88 *

Stella Corkery makes work which considers how sound behaves in different places and situations. References within her paintings can touch on contemporary art history, cinema as well as musical influences such as post-punk and improvised sound. Corkery is interested in collapsing timelines, dissolving and reforming percussions, to build relationships between paintings . Corkery’s most recent work has extended to include digital photography, in which her own paintings are collaged alongside found images.

Stella Corkery is currently a Doctoral candidate at College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Pōneke. Previously she graduated from Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts and Design, Tamaki Makaurau with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in 2012, and a Master of Fine Arts in 2013. In 2015 her work was included in a major exhibition of contemporary New Zealand painting, Necessary Distraction: A painting show at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Solo exhibitions include: Paradises, Michael Lett, Auckland (2020); Year of the Head, Olga, Dunedin (2020); I’ve Seen Sunny Days, Goya Curtain, Tokyo (2018) and Keep Smiling the Boss Loves Idiots, Poppy’s Gallery, New York City (2016).

Stella Corkery lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. This is her fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. 

* Odwalla88 were an American female duo group. Their poem cited above has no title and is printed on a fold out poster insert from their album Earth
Flirt, OOGA BOOGA RECORDS, 2015.