Update 2026
Suzan will be our solo artist from 24th September to 9th November with her exhibition ‘Liminal Fibres’.
The works in this exhibition will explore what liminal means within the textile field: “being at the threshold or boundary where it is neither fully one thing or another” a space where fibres intersect, are altered but not erased.
Suzan’s works are always meticulously conceive, designed and executed so it is with alot of anticipation that we await more details about this particular body of works.
Suzan will be our Artist in Residency during the time of her Solo Exhibition – Liminal Fibres. 24th September – 9th November 2026.
During my time in Residency I intend to continue my current exploration of the possibilities of kozo fibre, in terms of its sculptural qualities.
I am also hoping to extend my use of ngatu/tapa cloth in my work possibly combining both kozo and ngatu to produce a new series of work. The availability of a dyeing room is an exciting prospect to investigate how both these fibres react to natural dyes as my current workspace does not offer me the opportunity do this.
Updated Artistic Statement 2026.
“Each piece of work is a journey through the personal, a means to identify and translate experience into an external manifestation”
Suzan Kostanich is a Taranaki based fibre artist with over 40 years of self driven artistic practice. Process driven it is the exciting possibilities and outcome from process, and an enduring fascination with surface design, that continues to define and push her practice forward.
Theoretically her practice is underpinned by the concept of liminality: the threshold and the space that lies “between”
“What would happen if?” Is a core principle of her work, using fine merino fibre, kozo products, hand stitch and paint each piece is a unique expression of her world view.
As is our practice we have asked Suzan to answer our written questionnaire so we may get to know her a little before she is Resident at the Gallery. Here is the questionnaire:
What initially attracted you to the methods you use for your art practice?
Many of the methods I use in my practice have developed from skills learnt in my childhood. What attracts me to them is the tactile, meditative, and adaptable nature of them.
What or who were your early influences and how has your life/upbringing influenced your work?
The earliest influence was my Mother who was a very skilled embroiderer, spinner, and sewer, I remember sitting quietly with her stitching samplers from about the age of 10. She did not believe in TV as a form of entertainment thus our childhood was filled with craft activities and other means of occupying our spare time. Holidays were spent at Karekare beach with no TV, Radio, or phone but an abundance of materials, paints, books and outdoor activities. This ability to explore possibilities and try out ideas shaped my life from an early age.
What was your route to becoming an artist?
The journey towards becoming an artist is of recent origin, although I have been a maker most of my life it always took second place to career, family commitments, and general life. Retirement and a geographical move away from proximity to family has opened up the opportunity for me to pursue this route.
Tell us a bit about your process from conception to creation.
I always have a head full of ideas sustained by a lifelong practice of reading and enquiry into a wide variety of subjects. Prior to starting a work, I will normally have spent time researching my subject, from this point my process becomes a practical approach experimenting directly with the chosen materials. This tends to be a somewhat hit and miss approach but works well for me. Much of my process is intuitive and the materials I use tend to dictate the finished work.
What currently inspires you?
I am currently inspired by the nature of kozo bark, the precursor to the beautiful kozo paper I have been using in prior works. This raw material has a beauty of its own the flexibility and very nature of its raw state suggests endless possibilities.
Is there a piece of work that holds particular fond memories for you, and why?
There are two embroideries in my current work that evoke strong memories of my Mother and the companionship we shared through stitching together.
How has your work developed since you began and how do you see it developing?
My work has developed enormously since I began, initially my practice grew out of a love of handiwork as a relaxing hobby. Approximately 8-10 years ago I discovered wet felting which offered such a range of possibilities. From this point it became a foregone conclusion that it could serve as a basis to create further levels of surface design and texture. I began exploring the possibilities of nuno felting with paper, returning to stitch to add yet more texture. From producing a base cloth or canvas to a completed work has continued to develop using more traditional approaches such as collage and paint
A recent encounter with kozo bark, the precursor to the paper I have been using, has become the focus of my current work. Where this takes me in the future is an unknown, but I look forward to future possibilities.
What advice would you give an aspiring artist?
Remain true to your own aesthetic try not to be led astray by current trends and the pressure to become commercial. Understand why you have chosen this path and that it will never be an easy choice, but it is a gift and a privilege to engage with the world at this level.
What mesmerizes you, what can you not look away from?
It is hard to pinpoint one thing; however, I have an enduring fascination with the ever-changing nature of gardening from a seedling through to maturity the nature of plant life and the myriad of colour and texture never ceases to amaze me.
Favourite way to unwind
I have a few favourites that have equal value they include gardening, stitching, walking, and reading. To chose one above the others is impossible for me.
Artistic CV 2026
Born Wellington 1956
Lives in New Plymouth, Taranaki
Contacts: suzank@xtra.co.nz/kostanich@gmail.com.
Suzankostanich.com, @suzankostanich
Exhibition List
Hope&Sons Art Awards Otago Art Society, Hope Gallery, Dunedin
13 Mar-11 Apr 2026. Group exhibition
Taiao Pukeiti Gardens
16 Jan-01 Feb. Group Exhibition
The Big Exhibition Gover Street Gallery, New Plymouth
27 Sept-30 Nov 2025. Group exhibition
Quintet: The strength of Individual Voices Percy Thompson Gallery, Stratford
04 Jul-03 Aug 2025. Group exhibition
Take Four Bank Gallery, Raetihi
Aug-Dec 2025. Group exhibition
Craigs Aspiring Art Prize Wanaka NZ
Jan 2025. Juried selection
Lalanga Govett-Brewster Gallery Len Lye Centre
Jan-May 2025. Group exhibition
Malamalama Lysaght-Watt Gallery, Hawera
April-May 2024. Group Exhibition
Homework Maunga Auaha Puke Ariki Museum
July-Nov 2024. Group exhibition
The Big Exhibition Gover Street Gallery, New Plymouth
28 Sept-29 Oct 2024. Group exhibition
Time. SDA Pacific/African Regional Exhibition. from out of the blue studio gallery, Opunake
21 Nov-30 Dec 2024
Lalanga:Fala e Fala Govett-Brewster Gallery Len Lye Centre
Nov-Dec 2024. Group exhibition
Cleveland National Art Awards Otago Art Society, Dunedin Railway Station
May-Jun 2023. Group exhibition
Artist in Residence:
Tiapapata, Samoa
July-Aug 2026
from out of the blue studio gallery, Opunake
24th Sept-9th November 2026
Update November 2024.
Carole Shepheard has selected a work by Suzan that is part of her more recent exploration into her Samoan/ Asian Heritage. The work is called Taimi lagona: Sensing time. There is more information about Time here: https://fromoutofthebluestudiogallery.com/time-2/
Taimi lagona explores the concept of Time through the organic, where sensing time is based on relationships through the ages and the importance of continuity and community. The choice of materials relates to the ongoing relationships that exist with ancestral connections as well as more current ones.
Materials: Siapo/tapa cloth, printed using Upeti hand stitched printing plates, natural pigment from Back Beach Taranaki, acrylic paint, cotton thread, jute and hemp twine.
Dimensions: 60 cm x 150 cm
The juror’s comments about this work are:
While I relate to the history of Siapo and its special place in many Polynesian cultures, I find the visual elements in this work a little difficult to align with the statement. It was good to see a Upeti plate and how it was used in the work. Good to see natural local pigment used, but suggest for future work that acrylic paint is replaced with more natural/organic pigment as it is still being used as an authentic component.
New Plymouth is the home of Suzan Kostanich, a very experimental felt maker, stitcher, dye mistress and crochet artist. Suzan talks about her art life here:
For over forty years I have had an enduring interest in textile arts, engendered by my late Mother’s encouragement and practice of these.
My current practice encompasses the knowledge and skills I have developed over this time .Choosing to work in textiles has been a conscious decision based on the tactility and ability to manipulate commonly found fibres to achieve objects that transcend the ordinary.
As a contributor to the 2022 SDA Regional exhibition ‘Aotearoa – Land of The Long White Cloud’ (Jan 20th 2022 – Feb 28th 2022) Suzan has further explored her use of the precious tapa cloth as an element to combine with felted wool. Extensive symbolic embellishment with stitch and painting then overlay the surfaces – resonating with the multicultural influences we feel in Aotearoa.
Living in such an isolated corner of the world can be frustrating at times however the very isolation we experience often leads to new and inventive ways of adapting to a changing environment.For the maker it provides the opportunity to explore our cultural diversity and identity through a Polynesian inspired lens. Depicting the receptiveness and strength that develop as a result of living with such isolation.
More details of this work are on the shop site.
The crochet skills and colour sensitivities of Suzan’s fibre art practice came out for all of us to enjoy with her wonderful creations for the curated collection For The Home (Dec 23rd 2021 – Jan 17th 2022). A set of four Victorian style cotton velvet cushions graced the exhibition space.
In times gone by one of the defining characteristics of a woman was her level of expertise in the art of handiwork, the very fact that she had the time to pursue such pastimes also in part defined her social status.
These cushions are a contemporary redefinition of the practical and enduring nature of “womens work”.
More images and further details on these exquisitely worked pieces can be supplied by the gallery – please get in touch if you want any further information.
For the Made Over – Preserving and Reinterpreting Exhibition on at ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’ until May 10th 2021, Susan created a boro work. This work uses vintage boro cloth, second hand cotton sheets, second hand cotton bed sheet that Suzan has carefully indigo tie dyed and stitched with sashiko cotton thread. Susan describes the heritage of these practices:
Nuno o sonchō suru is a work celebrating the Japanese concept of boro. Boro is derived from Boroboro meaning “something tattered and repaired”. Boro refers to the practice of reworking or repairing textiles generally of a domestic nature. Traditionally boro was the province of hard working Japanese labourers, who patched over or cut up and reworked garments. Joined with running stitch or sashiko, boro is an expression of “mottainai” conveying a sense of regret concerning waste and demonstrates both thrift and creativity can be used to regenerate and reinvent what we in the West often regard as unsalvageable.
For more images and details of this stunning wearable art work please check out the gallery webshop listing. https://fromoutofthebluestudiogallery.com/product/nuno-o-soncho-suru-honour-the-cloth/
—————-
Suzan has an eclectic textile practice.
I predominantly use handmade felt to achieve this and then dye, stitch, and hand-mould the felt to make more complex statements.
The physicality and often capricious nature of the process provides me with both a challenge and the satisfaction of achieving what at first may seem impossible.
“What if” is a principle that underpins my work as I constantly strive to increase the scope of my practice.
Here is Suzan’s background statement about the body of work in Dreaming of the Future – SDA Exhibition:
The Dilly Bag Series – Past, Present, Future
Traditionally a Dillybag is an Australian aboriginal bag woven from plant and or bark fibre and used to transport food items primarily used by women but also used by men to carry tools for hunting or as a holder for personal and tribal artifacts.
This trio of bags was made to symbolise different aspects of my practice, the internal void is a repository for ideas and skills learned. Knowledge baskets to both draw upon and add to, these represent the past, present and future of my practice.
Although these Dilly Bags are a trio they are also available as individual units. More images and details of each of the Dilly Bags are on the gakkery webshop. If you want any extra images or information please contact the gallery.
Suzan also created another series of works for the Dreaming of the Future Exhibition.
Blue Triptych: 3 small framed works.
The Blue Triptych examines small pockets of personal internal musings on aspects of who I am, the patterns and connections which determine actions; threads from my past that reoccur and glimpses of new forming patterns for the future.
Microcosms Triptych: 3 small framed works
Merino fibres and kozo paper felted together. Acrylic inks and cotton thread.
Microcosms is a dissection of elements in the first series Blue Triptych. Selecting elements of the first, breaking through the confines of the past, reforming those continuous threads and simplifying unnecessary elements.
Novis Initiis: New Beginnings.
Novus Initiis is the final piece and represents a reformation for the future, the kernel remains the same and recognition of this allows it to be contained and nurtured. Acknowledgement of the kernel allows an expansion of new “ways of being”, new connections and intersections become possible and from this springs a new future.
The works in the two triptychs are for sale as individual items or as the set of three together. They are available with more details through our web shop. Please check it out. If you want more images or information please contact the gallery.
Artist Bio for Suzan Kostanich.
Based in Taranaki Suzan Kostanich is a textile artist with a decades-spanning practice. Self-taught her interest in expression through the medium of textiles has been a life long practice. Caught up in the day to day expectations of life it is only in the past 5 years that her practice has become the main focus in her life.
Through this medium Suzan finds the means to express her artistic voice. The tactility, creation of surface design and mindfulness of the process are the predominant forces behind her work.
She creates “canvas” on which to express her intent using wet felting as the process to produce the “canvas” then dyes, paints and stitches the surface to create the finished work. Recently the incorporation of kozo paper into the felting process has provided another dimension and allows the extension of her process into new realms of exploration.
In the past Suzan has successfully run a Pasifika inspired hand-painted textiles company, been both a winner and finalist in Pasifika Style, worked in the fashion industry as a pattern cutter and sample maker, and as an Interior Designer. Her current work can be found in both private collections and a number of Galleries in Taranaki.
kostanich@gmail.com
[…] Suzan Kostanich […]