FOG & MOON 

Documentation of Waimapihi awa (river). She runs from the top of Waimapihi reserve down underneath the city and out into the Whairepo lagoon. This is part of ongoing documentation.

Raranga Rerenga Rauropi: Weaving Biodiversity in our own backyard, 2021. A community art project collaborative with local community gardens and gardeners. We will be sharing images and videos from the garden, conversations, and information to do with backyard biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth, with a focus on regeneration as community collaboration. The aim is to develop and share knowledge and visual imagery based on Te Ao Māori principles that support the ecological activity of Whau based communities and extends across cultures. To connect with each other and open up conversations about the biodiversity within our own backyards. These 3 digital weavings depict the Mātauranga Māori concepts of Māramatanga (water, filmed on Whau river), Manākitanga (soil/earth filmed in the Whau district forest) & Kaitiakitanga (Whau plant filmed in the Whau district forest. This work was a community art project sponsored by Whau Arts. Māramatanga is a digital weaving created using HD video aerial footage of Whau river. This digital weaving depicts the rising and falling of the water cycle, the rain falls and the mist rises. In Māori creation stories, Papatūānuku (Earthmother) and Ranginui (Skyfather) were separated by their children, namely Tāne Mahuta (God of the Forest). When it rains Ranginui is crying for Papatūānuku and mist rising signals the sighing of Papatūānuku longing for him. Whakataukī (Māori proverbs) and allegorical creation stories talk about the importance of continued learning and striving for knowledge as the pathway towards enlightenment, it is represented by the triangle in this digital weaving. Traditional raranga (weaving) depicts this as the stepped pattern moving upwards, known as Poutama. Manākitanga is a digital weaving of HD video footage of the soil in the whau. This is one of the most important Te Ao Māori principles as it builds strong whanau family and community ties. This is achieved by extending aroha love, hospitality and mutual respect. When we do this all parties involved are elevated through humility and giving. This concept is reflected in the ethos of community and shared gardens across nga whenua the land. In Maori creation stories Tane Mahuta God of the forest created Hineahuoneone the first woman from the soil of Papatuanuku. This is why soil is considered sacred and ceremonial rituals of respect were performed during the planting of Mara kai food gardens to feed the tribal community. Kaitiakianga is a HD video digital weaving of the tree and plant life in the whau. Kaitiakitanga means guardianship, stewardship or protection of the environment. Tiaki means to guard, people, groups or a living being can be a kaitiaki guardian. The Atua or Gods were the original guardians e.g., Tane Mahuta, God of the Forest plants and beings is the original guardian of the forest. Tane Mahuta is also the name given to the giant kauri tree in the Waipoua forest in Northland. Traditional matauranga Maori is centred around the natural world and a deep connection to the rhythms and cycles of the seasons. The Mauri, life force of the environment was preserved through tikanga, correct procedures, māra kai, food gardens were in use for only 3 growing cycles and then left to regenerate for 7 to 10 years. The growing and harvesting cycles were maintained following the phases of the moon, or Maramataka, which is the Maori lunar calendar.

Harakeke component of the film Kohatu Tipua - Supernatural Stones 2020. The full film is a 3 min moteatea, traditionally song poetry, Kohatu Tipua is a visual poem. Digital weaving of Harakeke (NZ flax plant) video footage filmed at Maukatia Bay. The movement is created by the wind blowing the leaves of the harakeke plant. Traditionally the plant fibres are woven to create kete bags, mats & korowai cloaks. Documenting time & place. Again representing the unseen stories that lie across the landscape.

My mother saying a karakia and sending hope across the ocean to family and friends. Muriwai Gannet Colony New Zealand

My research art practice is based in Kaitiakitanga or stewardship. I have started formulating my own system of kaupapa or methodologies to connect to the whenua/ land. Working with my grandmothers tiikanga practice (correct procedure). I ‘asked’ permission from the land before taking a small soil sample from a Harakeke plant by the Opanuku stream. I created a pigment by drying and grinding the soil, then used a piece of Harakeke leaf to paint a strip onto the paper. I then took the ‘painting’ to Auckland University Biomedical Imaging Research Unit to look at it under a stereoscopic microscope. There we found a microscopic entity that is unseen to the naked eye (2nd image) -that moment confirmed my grandmothers teaching about working with whenua. The intention of tiikanga is important to connect with every living thing seen and unseen – past, present & future. This work can be seen at our Studio, Corbans Estate Art Centre during the Neighbourhood group show. 2018

Makutu is a split screen work that included x2 projection pieces and sound. In this clip are am using a rake to create a Makutu or spell of protection for our Maunga, after reading about a discovery of gold deposits under the mountains by scientists. This work is a humorous anecdote to a serious environmental problem. 2016

Building a connection to the environment 2016. Wairua is a split screen film, filmed at Te Awakairangi river, it shows me asking the river if I can take some home and my mother returning the water with a karakia after a month, according to Maramataka the Māori lunar calendar. It was my aim to build a connection to the area by bringing the water home. Every morning I would wake up at 4am and sit with the jar, thinking about what it means to connect. By the end I could still remember the jar and the feeling of its presence in the room. This was an installation piece accompanied by photgraphs & the jar of water from Te Awakairangi.

2016 Documentation I spent some time filming in Tongariro National Park. This is a small clip, sitting with Mt Ruapehu, video is sped up to see the changing colours of light across the landscape. I am interested in the painterly and textural layers of the plants across the land and the way the light changes the depth of the colours. The wind blowing the grasses creates the textural marks across the screen. 0:46 HD video drawing.

Exploring landscape and representing the invisible stories that dwell there. 2015