John Gatip
John Gatip — Bakunawa, 2025
DONE/UNDONE
Curated by Joseph Gardner
VISIONARIES 2025: Presenting the future of Australian art, craft and design through the lens of one of the country's most influential creatives.
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A hanging sculptural light installation made from Capiz shells cut into squares and pearls hand sewn to each corner with waxed seacell (silk and seaweed) thread. The process explored creating a textile material from rigid shells and also materiality that embodied the relationship of Filipino culture with the ocean.
Named after a mythical Filipino sea dragon that swallows moons that triggered eclipses, earthquakes, rains and wind. The mythology served as a geomantic calendar system for pre-colonial Filipinos.
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The works of John Gatip span the transection of art and architecture. He fuses these two disciplines through various forms of visual art. Gatip aims to add to the rich culture and craft of his Filipino heritage through his work by surveying the material biography of the Philippines. His recent work explores the material capiz, a traditional material from the shells of the Placuna Placenta mollusc. This material is heavily used in handicrafts, lighting, furniture, and windowpanes. He seeks to blend tradition with contemporary approaches in design and visual art forms through this material.
14 November 2025 - 7 February 2026
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Joseph Gardner is the 2025 Visionaries curator – presenting DONE/UNDONE: an exhibition of 50+ artists, and one of Craft’s largest exhibitions to date – featuring artists working across medium, scale and practice, representing exceptional Australian talent.
DONE/UNDONE explores the creative process as a space of constant negotiation – a series of decisions to build, erase, repeat, or let be. It’s about that intuitive moment when a maker chooses to pause, to push further, or to dismantle entirely. These are the choices that define the rhythm of making – choices familiar to artists, designers, and creators across disciplines.
Joseph Gardner is the Style Editor at Vogue Living, with a decade of experience in publishing and styling, and the founder of Sydney-based gallery, Studio Gardner.
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Material: Ebonized Tasmanian oak, capiz, freshwater pearls
Dimensions: approx. 225 x 825 (Variable) x 110cm
Please note: purchased works are to be collected at the conclusion of the exhibition (7 February 2026).
Shipping costs may be estimates. Please contact us via shop@craft.org.au and we will be available to provide an Art Courier quote or shipping costs for larger items.