Tony Rice, Caraspace installation, Metcalfe Gallery, 2025, photo: John Garozzo
This spring, Tony Rice awakens Meanjin (Brisbane) residents to the Japanese tradition of flying insect kites.
When looking into the heavens, many might regard a passing beetle as an obstruction to the view. However, the same cannot be said of Keichitsu observers. Like some of his winged subjects, Aotearoa (New Zealand)- born Paeka artist Tony Rice, residing in Meanjin (Brisbane), has spent much of his life traversing transpacific air currents. He brought this principle to the Metcalfe Gallery at the Brisbane Institute of Art (BIA) in late August 2025. With a geographic “down under” location, the seasons of the Gregorian calendar are reversed. In Japan, Keichitsu is celebrated in March. But, its sentiment is something Meanjin residents may warm to amid an unseasonally cold start to spring. The term literally translates from Japanese into English as the “awakening of insects”.
As the son of a pilot, Rice began flying kites as a child in the windy South Island town of Invercargill. The painter, ceramicist and kitemaker studied at the South Australian School of Arts in the 1970s. During the same decade, he would find his way to Japan. Kitemaking was said to have migrated to Japan from China during the peaceful Edo period (1603-1868 CE). Whereas butterfly kites are common in Weifang, a younger tradition in Nagoya includes depictions of the diversity of insects. The cicada kites even buzz in flight.
His exhibition, Carapace, featured kites that Rice has fashioned over the past three decades. He has flown in international festivals in many cities, including Wellington, Singapore, and Nagasaki. He continues to apply some traditional Japanese techniques and materials. Bamboo remains his scaffolding of choice. However, in his contemporary practice, durable acrylic paints and Tyvek have taken the place of ink and washi paper.
The arrangement of the kites on the wall was reminiscent of specimens in a cabinet. Interspersed are “exuvia-esque” ceramic plates – of the variety used for armour. This interjection served to emphasise the fragility of exoskeletons. The susceptibility of insects was subsequently stressed.
Tony Rice, Caraspace, Metcalfe Gallery, Brisbane Institute of Art, 21 August to 2 September 2025
Visit tonyriceartist.com.
Further reading
Fukushi, T., and Shouei, I. ( 2023, March 6). Keichitsu (Insects Awaken). Nippon.
Llopis, E. (2023, February 25). Let’s Fly a Kite! Reaching the Heights of Aichi in Style. Nagoya is Not Boring.
