Regardless 2022
‘Charred Forest’
While covid ravaged up front and centre, a quiet killer permeated all corners of the earth. Ice melts, sea levels rise, wild fires rage. These affects are no longer hidden in the depths of dwindling rainforests or a in 40 degree temperature spike in the Antarctic. The changes are real and far reaching. The aftermath of wildfires, the charred forest, beautiful, majestic and terrifying.
Black stoneware hand sculpted vase.
‘Towing the Line’
My observations for ‘Towing the line’ were seeded in our first lockdown and began as a simple visual commentary of New Zealand’s handling of the global pandemic. The ‘sheeple ‘ represent the good people of Aotearoa trying to navigated uncharted waters. Standing in a socially distanced queue, something none of us had even imagined a few years ago. It is almost felt akin to participating in some kind of social experiment. Every temperament, congregated there with a common compulsion: to gather food and supplies to survive. As for compliance, racism, fear, confusion, apathy, anarchy these queues were a microcosm for it all. The intensity and bizarreness of each situation was not lost on me, as I love to capture quirky characters in my sculpture. This seemed the perfect place to observe, but humans adapt, get worn down, question, become complacent, as the line slowly unravels.
Cream paper clay and oxide character sculptures
‘No Moa’ Series II
Aotearoa, home of incredible bush and bird life. Introduce humans and the pests they brought with them and these defenceless creatures started to disappear forever. Creatures that we hold so dear as a nation are in fact in many cases extinct or critically endangered. Is it enough to preserve them in our stamps, our art, our identity? We have been so wrapped up in ourselves during covid, surely we need to make time to nurture and protect them rather than just remember them as something that was beautiful?
Hand sculpted, extinct and endangered New Zealand bird skulls. White stoneware, oxide and matte cream glaze.