Mora x Jon Tootill
Each month, Boutique Connection sponsors Sanderson Contemporary Art’s exhibition openings.
This is a collaboration of wine and art pairing where we pair a handcrafted New Zealand wine with the artist’s hero piece. The project explores how taste and texture can echo a visual experience and perhaps even enhance it.
I’m exploring the non-verbal dialogue between art and wine and pairing each artist’s hero piece with a wine that echoes its mood, energy, and emotion.
The aim is to translate visual expression into taste, inviting viewers to experience the artwork through another sensory lens. Each match is intuitive and collaborative, celebrating both the artist’s vision and the craft of our boutique producers.
Jon Tootill
Jon Tootill’s work sits in the space between action and observation. His paintings are not about capturing a fixed moment, but about watching … how colour shifts, how light moves, how the eye travels across a surface. There’s a patience to his process, a willingness to sit with the work and let it evolve.
Rather than directing the viewer, Jon creates space for interpretation. His pieces feel alive, inviting you to slow down and notice how your own perception changes over time.
“Rooted in his countryside life over the last 15 years, Tootill traces how changing seasons shape perception, colour, and form.“ - Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery
Harakeke
Harakeke (XIII) draws from the familiar form of flax, yet moves beyond representation into something more sensory. Vertical lines pull the eye upward, creating a sense of lift and quiet momentum.
At first glance, the colours feel vibrant and immediate — playful, even — but as you sit with the work, a more contemplative energy emerges. The interplay of light and tone creates subtle shifts, like watching colour breathe.
It’s a piece that unfolds slowly, balancing spontaneity with stillness — much like a thought that appears suddenly, then deepens the longer you hold it.
Mora - Brut NV
Mora Brut NV is a Methode Traditionelle sparkling wine from Central Otago, shaped as much by time as by intention. Fine bubbles rise steadily through the glass, creating a gentle vertical lift, while layers of citrus, brioche, and mineral texture build beneath.
What makes it such a natural pairing with Harakeke (XIII) is this shared sense of movement and evolution. The wine meets you with brightness and energy at first — much like the initial impact of the painting — before settling into something more textural and reflective.
The fine mousse mirrors the upward motion of the work, while the quiet complexity beneath speaks to the time spent observing, adjusting, and allowing something to fully reveal itself.
- Renée Dale
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Jon Tootill
Harakeke
1 - 24 April 2026
Sanderson are pleased to present Harakeke by Jon Tootill - the artist’s latest exhibition marking his 75th year.
With a bold meditation on the seasonal colours of Aotearoa, this new body of work continues the artist’s intimate exploration of his immediate environment; mapping the colours of native flora and fauna that live outside his Karaka home and studio.
The focus of the show is the Harakeke (New Zealand Flax), a recurring subject for the artist since 2020, whose graphic forms and vibrant palettes anchor the exhibition’s dialogue between landscape, lineage, and abstraction.
Rooted in his countryside life over the last 15 years, Tootill traces how changing seasons shape perception, colour, and form. His artworks celebrate Aotearoa’s flora and fauna that colour the landscape at different times of year, translating botanical observations into a painterly language.
The artist's Ngāi Tahu heritage and whakapapa are inherent in these works - the exhibition continuing his integration of cultural motifs into a contemporary visual language:
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Read more here.
