A sense of support and interconnectedness animates this work. It delighted Francis Upritchard to learn of two yōkai (or ‘strange apparitions’) from Japanese folklore known together as Ashinaga-Tenaga (Long Legs and Long Arms), ‘helper’ figures who symbolise harmonious working relationships. In her retelling, long-armed Tenaga-jin (手長人) sits on long-legged Ashinaga-jin’s (足長人) shoulders while they fish in deep water. Together, they do what they could never manage apart. They are tangled and bound by a pair of swimming tuna (eels) – like those living in the Ōtākaro Avon River that winds through Ōtautahi Christchurch.

(Dummies & Doppelgängers, 2 November 2024 – 23 March 2025)