Dance artist Zahra Killeen-Chance to perform at Whanganui's Sarjeant Gallery

Zahra Killeen-Chance, wearing the knitted costume she will perform in, on the stairs in Tylee Cottage. Photo / Supplied

Choreographic artist Zahra Killeen-Chance will revisit a solo performance at the Sarjeant Gallery this month.

Nichework was put together while she was pregnant with her first child, and she and photographer partner Solomon Mortimer are now expecting their second.

The couple, along with their daughter Frieda Killeen-Mortimer, is currently in Whanganui as the Sarjeant Gallery's Tylee Cottage artists-in-residence.

First performed in 2020, Nichework is an interrogation and exploration of the labyrinth of birth, pregnancy and the movements created and performed during gestation.

Killeen-Chance performs in a knitted costume created in collaboration with the AUT Textile Design Lab in Auckland.

"The work itself is a meditative ritual, really, thinking about the journey of going through pregnancy and birth," she said.

"The labyrinth is mapped out on the floor."

Pregnancy itself was "quite a big shift in one's life", Killeen-Chance said.

"This is quite an inward performance, it's not showy dance.

"You're using your own inner senses to navigate something that could potentially be quite difficult."

Zahra Killeen-Chance (left), Solomon Mortimer, and daughter Frieda Killeen-Mortimer have been in Whanganui since July. Photo / Bevan Conley

Despite the pregnancy component, Killeen-Chance said she approached creating the piece in the same way she did all her others.

"It's just what I've always done, in terms of planning and performing. I don't see it as anything too much different. It just adds another layer of interest for me, I guess."

The sound score for the performance has been created specifically for Nichework by Wellington music artist Emi Pogoni and is evocative of the ebb and flow of water.

Killeen-Chance and Mortimer have three weeks left in their residency, but Nichework is separate.

"I've been working on a new performance in relation to this residency," she said.

"We've been taking a lot of photographs and videos, and I've been rehearsing at the Gonville Hall.

"It's been really lovely to have that extra space to go and do some moving."

Killeen-Chance said it would be sad to leave Whanganui and return to Auckland.

"We've really enjoyed our time here.

"There's been lots for Frieda to do as well. Ducks are big at the moment, so we always walk down to the [Whanganui] awa and around Virginia Lake."

Nichework will take place at Sarjeant on the Quay on November 15. It runs for 30-40 minutes.

To comply with social distancing requirements, numbers are strictly limited. The event is free but tickets must be booked through the Gallery and there will be no door admissions.