Historical objects have always fascinated Goody. His first exhibition, Mint, focused on the history of the New Zealand coin between 1939 and 1945; for Goody, "these small and unimposing pieces of metal are narratives which are full of intensity and emotion." Cast in a shadowy gold light that, like history, both conceals and illuminates, the coins retain their heavy material silence, yet they also speak powerfully of the past - of New Zealand's intertwined English and Maori cultural history and of the wartime era.

Goody's second exhibition was inspired by the Waikumete Cemetery, situated close to his home in West Auckland. Rendered once again in gold, brown and shadowy tones, Goody's paintings are of early 20th century cemetery sculptures, detailing the sorrowful faces and still figures of angels as they watch over the dead. Like the coins, these monuments remain silent, but again for Goody they also speak of "a rich social history and the forgotten stories of both everyday and noteworthy people."