Lucy Dolan Kang

Written By Stephen Frayle

Location: Lyttelton, Aotearoa New Zealand

Practice: Multidisciplinary – textiles, drawing, and mixed media

Lucy Dolan Kang is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist based in Lyttelton, New Zealand. Her work explores identity, belonging, and the cycles of nature, often weaving together textiles, drawing, and mixed media. Symbolism and the physical qualities of materials are central to her practice.

Artistic Style & Themes

Lucy’s work frequently channels feminine energy, spirituality, and ecological awareness, drawing on pagan and seasonal imagery.

  • Explores identity, belonging, and cyclical time

  • Strong focus on feminine energy and spirituality

  • Deep ecological awareness and care for the natural world

  • Regular use of pagan, seasonal, and ritual motifs

She often works with:

  • Repurposed and reclaimed materials

  • Natural dyes and hand-stitching

  • Textiles, drawing, and mixed media

Recurring symbols, such as the ouroboros (a serpent consuming its own tail), allow her to reflect on cyclical time, transformation, and impermanence. These ideas are central to works like The beginning and the end.

Selected Exhibitions

HER (2025) – Kakanui Church

A solo exhibition presented over Easter and ANZAC weekends. HER honoured the feminine and reimagined the church as a sacred gallery space.

  • Featured 19 works

  • Included The Triumph of Death, a wheel-like installation drawing on Roman goddesses and seasonal cycles

  • Transformed a historic church into an environment for contemplation, ritual, and renewal

Fling (2023) – Eastside Gallery, Christchurch

An exhibition exploring impermanence and the protection of the natural world.

  • Included works such as Cloak for a God and New moon, old moon

  • Influenced by Wabi Sabi aesthetics, embracing transience, repair, and the beauty of imperfection

  • Combined protective, cloak-like forms with fragile, time-worn materials

Nine Lives (2024) – Stoddart Cottage

A collaborative installation created with the Ripon Street Collective.

  • Celebrated friendship, shared rituals, and collective artistic practice

  • Brought together nine lives and voices in a single, evolving installation

  • Focused on process, conversation, and community as integral parts of the work

Recognition

Lucy’s work has been recognised nationally.

  • Parkin Drawing Prize 2023 – Merit Award for The beginning and the end

This textile-based work uses dye, bleach, goldwork, and garnet on repurposed cloth, highlighting her interest in transformation, preciousness, and re-use.

Collectives & Community Practice

Lucy is a founding member of the Ripon Street Collective, a group of artists committed to creative exchange in Ōtautahi Christchurch and beyond.

Her community-focused practice includes:

  • Regular exhibitions in artist-run and community galleries

  • Projects that engage with local ecology, cultural heritage, and seasonal cycles

  • Works that invite viewers to consider their own place within wider patterns of time, land, and community

Through her art, Lucy creates spaces for reflection, connection, and quiet transformation, grounding contemporary practice in materiality, ritual, and care for the more-than-human world.

Sources and Further reading

  • The Central – artist bio and artworks (e.g. Crystal Skull, Waterfall): thecentral.co.nz

  • Parkin Drawing Prize – 2023 finalist listing for The beginning and the end: parkinprize.nz/2023-finalist

  • Parkin Drawing Prize – news and Merit Award/People’s Choice coverage mentioning The beginning and the end: parkinprize.nz/collected-news and related articles

  • Scoop – “Blank Wall Wins 2023 Parkin Drawing Prize” (includes The beginning and the end as Merit Award): scoop.co.nz

  • Waitaki District Council / Waitaki events – HER: An Exhibition by Lucy Dolan Kang at Kakanui Church: waitaki.govt.nz and waitakiapp.nz

  • Facebook event/listings – HER – An Exhibition by Lucy Dolan Kang (Kakanui Church): Facebook events and Kakanui Church posts

  • Stoddart Cottage – Nine Lives exhibition (Ripon Street Collective, including Lucy Dolan Kang): stoddartcottage.nz/past-exhibitions/nine-lives

  • ArtBeat – “Ripon Street Collective at Stoddart Cottage” review of Nine Lives: artbeat.org.nz

  • Instagram – Ripon Street Collective and Lucy’s own posts documenting Nine Lives, HER, and Fling: @lucydolankang and @riponstreetcollective posts

Stephen Frayle
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