Burnt Offerings

Burnt Offerings began with a fire outside Kaye McGarva’s studio. Charcoal salvaged from the blaze became both her medium and her subject, and after visiting the site together, the conversation turned into a shared show. Painting, carving and stone, three practices that turned out to have more in common than any of us expected.

The Work

Kaye’s canvases are crushed, sprayed and flattened, then set into burnt timber frames, using charcoal from the fire itself. Chauncey Flay brought reconstructed sculptures in Greywacke, rough and smooth stone sourced from quarries around New Plymouth.

Our contribution came from familiar territory. Yakisugi, the Japanese charring technique, is part of how we work, and here it sat alongside Kaye’s charcoal and Chauncey’s stone. Once the three bodies of work were in the same room, they spoke to each other in ways none of us had planned.

The show ran at Muse Gallery from 7 July to 8 August 2026.