4-24 October 2025
When my brothers and I were growing up, my mother often reminded us:
“Still waters run deep.” The phrase comes from the Latin altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi (the deepest rivers flow with the least sound).
Her meaning was simple but profound: calm surfaces can hide depth, complexity, and power. It was good advice for young men stepping into the world in the 1980s. Little did I know how often I’d cling to it as I began to navigate a life where the law branded me deviant and the shadow of HIV turned every moment of intimacy into a volatile mix of defiance and fear.
On the surface, life for young men today might look less suffocating, but make no mistake, it’s no less dangerous. Globally, suicide among men is more than twice the rate of women. In New Zealand, young male suicide has long been among the highest in the world.
And yet, in a political climate that shrugs at the fragility of our youth and the wounded world they will inherit, all while serving the wealthiest, we drift toward losing everything - drowning silently in still waters.
This exhibition builds on my earlier explorations of this theme.
