Art New Zealand Issue187

Essay written by Louise Evans with images from the fitting in series in the Art New Zealand magazine, issue 187, published in August 2023.

Play with the Nonplaces:
Nela Fletcher’s fitting in

In every city, there exist spaces often overlooked - forgotten corners, grey alleyways, empty lots. The nonplaces. For Nela Fletcher, a Swiss-born artist now based in Invercargill, New Zealand, these nonplaces are the stage for her photographic series fitting in - a diary-like choreography of the body in space. 

Fletcher's background in dance is evident in her work. Her body, clad in nondescript clothing, is both present and absent in the photographs. It inhabits the spaces it occupies, yet is subsumed into them. It’s a study in contrasts: the human form against the stark geometry of the city, the fluidity of movement against the rigidity of concrete and steel. Each exploration is digitally documented with a self-timer, resulting in a growing archive of over 200 photographs. 

Fletcher's work harnesses the power of restriction and reduction, tools she has borrowed from her dance and choreography background. She sets rules for her work - always wearing the same clothes, maintaining similar distance from the camera, never showing her face, and never including anyone else in the shot. Far from limiting her creativity, the restrictions serve to focus it, allowing her to explore the possibilities within the set boundaries. In earlier works, Fletcher set her body rigid to the lines of symmetry in the composition. As time has passed and her body softens, so too has her form within the works. 

The series can be divided into collections, each exploring space. The "domestic" collection, features Fletcher draping herself over kitchen cupboards, a commentary on the often overlooked physicality of domestic work. The "playgrounds" collection, on the other hand, is a study in monotony and repetition, with Fletcher positioning her body in empty Invercargill playgrounds that all look eerily similar. 

Fletcher's work is also a philosophical exploration of space and movement. She questions the ways in which public spaces are designed and used, noting that they are often restrictive and prescriptive. Children, she observes, are natural explorers of space, “They try to squeeze through places.” She says, “And then we lose it”. Through her work, Fletcher challenges these norms, reclaiming public spaces for exploration and play.

fitting in is a series that dances on the edge of the visual and the performative, the static and the dynamic. As an immigrant to New Zealand, the works are a visual record of her journey from outsider to insider. 

As Fletcher herself says, "We don't need much to create or to be. It's right in front of our eyes, with our own bodies." And indeed, through her work, she shows us the extraordinary in the ordinary, the dance in the stillness, the art in the everyday.

Louise Evans