When he was just 16 years old, Kentaro Yamada left Japan and moved to Aotearoa New Zealand on his own to become a competitive sailor. He now works as an artist and has continued to travel widely. This sculpture copies the shape of the centreboard underneath a sailboat, sometimes called a ‘foil’ in a racing boat, which balances against the force of the sails to help the boat sail upwind. Leaned up against the gallery wall, with sunsets from around the world projected onto the thin piece of Perspex at its centre, Yamada’s board also looks a bit like an aircraft wing. Either skimming under the water, or soaring above it, it’s a reminder of the feeling of speeding along between where you have left and where you’re heading to.

(Wheriko - Brilliant!, 17 May 2019 – 16 February 2020)