Stories carved in wood: two new exhibitions open at Taupō Museum

Two new exhibitions opening at Taupō Museum on 15 August bring together four artists working in very different ways, but all connected by a single, timeless material: wood.

The Language of Wood features Taupō artists Angela Zajonskowski, Jodie Appleton, and Sally-Ann Davies, while Responses in Wood presents a solo exhibition by local artist Jan Ubels. Though separate shows, both explore the creative possibilities and stories held within timber.

For the artists behind The Language of Wood, the exhibition grew from a shared connection.

“Sally noticed the link between our work,” says Appleton. “Each language we use came together to form one conversation.”

That conversation includes sculptural woodturning, pyrography and layered woodcut prints. Their chosen artform incorporates both precision and unpredictability.

Angela works with swamp kauri, revealing colours and patterns formed over thousands of years beneath the earth.

“Once it’s been sitting in a swamp, all these colours come through it, like it’s been marinating. This piece has been marinating for two and a half thousand years!”

“It’s the excitement of seeing what you get,” says Sally-Ann. “I always have an idea, but the image turns out quite different than I anticipated.”

Across the exhibition runs a shared message of care for the land.

“It’s a celebration of the whenua,” says Jodie. “You need to get out onto the land, appreciate it, and protect it.”

Alongside this collective work, Jan Ubels brings a distinct and personal perspective in Responses in Wood - his first solo exhibition in Taupō.

Ubels, who has a background in set design and building for opera, describes himself as “a compulsive maker”, creating everything from fairy houses to large-scale sculptural works.

His pieces are built through layered processes - cut, carved, painted, and assembled - responding directly to the material.

“I think my work has to have some critical integrity to it, about responding to the wood and developing the material,” he says.

A new work will form a centrepiece of the exhibition. Visitors can get a preview before stepping inside the museum, with a selection of works already installed along the Wairākei Drive fenceline.

“When the Ukraine-Russia war happened, I was inspired to create a set of refugees on fragments of plywood,” Jan says. “I've created another set that will be striking against the back wall of the Niven Gallery.”

While their approaches differ, both exhibitions celebrate hand-crafted work in a digital age. They exhibit more than artwork, it’s where the material and the process itself still matter.

The Language of Wood and Responses in Wood will be on display at Taupō Museum from 15 August to 21 September 2026.