Configure: HOME has seen the space at He Waka Tuia on Don St transformed into a paeon of the female form and the rich, oft-forgotten inner life women both enjoy and endure.

Configure: Home is the fourth in a series of exhibitions that began with a simple premise – to examine the relationships between feminist figurative works and the home, addressing the idea that common themes bridge the differences in the female experience.

He Waka Tuia and Invercargill Public Art Gallery manager Sarah Brown said the works are a blend of eye-catching imagery and quiet sadness; larger-than-life sculptures, wallpaper that looks lively but hides women’s true stories, delicate embroidery with a bombastic message and quiet intimate watercolours that tell a story of birth and life and being far from home.

“Artists Kiri Mitchell, Sarah Baird, Michele Beevors, Kylie Norton, Tamara Nicholson, Maggie Covell and former Invercargill woman Anna Muirhead have offered an exhibition especially curated for He Waka Tuia. It’s simultaneously moving, tender and delightful.”

Configure: Home opened on Saturday and will remain at He Waka Tuia until mid-September, with events and workshops scattered throughout its six-week calendar.