Sticks & Stones - Matan Fadida

Sticks & Stones is a new collection of work by Matan Fadida, the title acts as the collection’s central theme, explored through a range of materials, processes and ideas. Playful motifs appear throughout the work, from the silhouette of a stone informing the shape of a table, to hooks cast from forms naturally found in branches.
Matan began developing the collection with an intention not to overthink or overcomplicate its narrative. Instead, Sticks & Stones became an exercise in testing how this narrative could manifest in different ways. While the premise is deliberately uncomplicated, it has developed into a wider conversation within Matan’s practice, examining our relationship with nature and the ways in which we interact with the materials that surround us.

For the maker and designer, this relationship is embedded in the materials and tools of production. Wood and stone originate in the natural world, yet through increasingly sophisticated processes of manufacturing they are transformed into objects that can feel distinctly human-made. On a broader level, the collection considers our desire to remain connected to nature while living within an increasingly urbanised environment. Sticks & Stones sits somewhere between these two conditions, primitive and manufactured, natural and constructed.
The collection is also a celebration of making in Aotearoa New Zealand. Matan sees the role of the designer as being resourceful: working with the processes, materials, makers and production facilities available, and finding ways to turn ideas into reality through collaboration. Every piece in the collection has been produced locally, showcasing the possibilities of making in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Matan Fadida is a multidisciplinary designer based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Focused on creating a personal world through objects. He often works in the space between art and design, viewing everyday objects as sculptures while ensuring they retain their essential function. Fadida’s practice draws on a wide range of materials and techniques, drawing on his studies in product design and interest in the relationship between human and object.
 

For this exhibition, we'll present a new collection, Sticks & Stones, developed by Matan, alongside pieces from various projects developed over recent years.  His work has been presented internationally, including a chair made in London and exhibited at Milan Design Week as part of Wallpaper’s Class of 24. He has also exhibited at Season Gallery and, earlier this year, was part of the collective of designers curated by Clark Bardsley during New Zealand Design Week, presenting his 112 Stone Dishesinstallation.

Matan was also a guest speaker at Objectspace as part of I Wish I Made That alongside Martino Gamper’s phenomenal exhibition Endgrained. His connection with Gamper goes back to Matan’s time working in London.

Now back in Aotearoa, Matan is busy developing his own projects and collaborating with local makers and businesses.

We’re excited to present his first solo exhibition with Public Record and share his distinctive creative world through a collection of bespoke furniture and objects.

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Matan Fadida has invited his artist and friend Kevin Dong to collaborate on a selection of new works, bringing their practices together through a playful exchange of image, material and design.

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Kevin Dong & Matan Fadida
Snow on the Path
3 September – 20 September 2026
Public Record

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Snow on the Path is a collaborative exhibition by Kevin Dong and Matan Fadida comprising six new works, bringing together Kevin’s drawing practice and Matan’s expertise in material, fabrication, and design. Through works on paper and sculptural frames that function as viewing devices, the exhibition considers the relationships between images, memory, and acts of looking: how ordinary experiences become images, and how those images continue to shift as they move through time. Rather than preserving the past intact, the works dwell on its instability—where details dissolve, fragments remain, and personal memories become open to collective interpretation. The exhibition is accompanied by a commissioned text by Raina Wellman, and soft furnishings designed by Matan Fadida featuring printed graphics by Kevin Dong.

Kevin Dong is an artist and designer based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Working across drawing, publishing, and image-making, his practice explores how images are translated, remembered, and transformed across time. Drawing from his background in graphic design, he approaches his work as a process of collecting and preserving uncertain experiences across physical and digital media. He graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2019. Alongside his studio practice, he maintains a freelance graphic design and illustration practice, as well as an ongoing interest in independent publishing.