New Works
間違った方向へ. Machigatta hōkō e. - Wrong turn - Direction
間
An investigation into the Japanese concept of Ma.
Taking a wrong turn with all its consequences,
Length of time depends upon our ideas.
Size of space hangs upon our sentiments.
For one whose mind is free from care,
A day will outlast the millennium.
For one whose heart is large,
A tiny room is as the space between heaven and earth.
Translated from Saikontan , Yuhodo, Tokyo, 1926
Flight
Ma 間
Ma in Zen Buddism - All spaces between edges that can be found from the beginning to the end of life.
Our lives are often transient. Mine especially, has involved a lot of travel. Following that a lot of finding space and belonging.
The colour I captured here after sundown is one of my favourites, 'almost cobalt'. The simplicity of the shot is a learning curve for me as is the change from my normal portrait candid street photography to finding representation of ideas through architecture and light and the luck of being in the right place at the right time as an aeroplane flew towards Auckland Airport coming in to land.
Pitt Street (Karangahape.)
MY INSPIRATIONS
I capture the human condition, edit to amplify an emotion,
add to it to tell a story, or something like that.
This image, The Sitar player reflects the beauty and colourfulness of Indian culture. I spent 6 months travelling this diverse continent back in the '90s and sadly lost the images I took then. I love being immersed in a country where everything: sights, aromas of delicious foods, and sounds are so far removed from the place I am from that I almost feel like I am on another planet. This and others from "The Colours of India Series", I have yet to exhibit. This series was taken at the 2024 Diwali festival in Auckland. Two are currently displayed at Fort Greene Artisanal Bakery on Karangahape Road for those in the Auckland area. Only two shots make up this multiexposure, The beautiful intricate material from a skirt on a stand makes for a celebration with its bright colours and sequins, the main character is duplicated to give two different versions of herself.
CONNECTIONS
Connections is a taster of new work to be exhibited for Matariki 2024 on Karangahape Road. The exhibition is set over 9 different venues. I am curating and presenting a series of works around the philosophies of Maoritanga. These four girls were at a protest reminding the Government to uphold Te Tiriti- The Treaty of Waitangi principles, which it currently falls well short of.
I love how each one shows a different type of beauty in their expressions: happiness, steadfast belief, questioning while almost blowing a kiss and Maori empowerment. The whole march had a feeling of Aroha forming in between each person who was there, It Made me feel like a proud pakeha to be standing alongside them.
MATARIKI 24
PITT STREET DREAMS
In the door of the Pitt Street Methodist Church, a rough sleeper takes refuge sleeping through the night. Once their eyes are closed, dreams take hold and the world from which they have come is left behind. It is the grand equaliser.
In sleep, we are all equal - rich or poor, happy or sad, as our imagination would let us be. That is until the sun rises to a new day, and we make of that as much as we can.
MATARIKI 24
Under The Gingko Tree
Many years back I lay in this park with friends where a Pa once stood and listened to stories for hours in an afternoon while a talented Orator, Pita Turei enthralled me with the history of the ground I was on and the path that led across the ridge, Te Karanga a hape. A seed had been sewn in me, a desire to know more about where I had come from, not the history I had grown up with, but the longer history of this place and the people before. As a seasoned traveller, this was probably a wish to understand what it was to call this place home.
5 years on, I lay under a Ginkgo tree, not far from the old Pa site. I felt the presence and history of the earth beneath me, upon seeing this beautiful foreigner a coloniser in its way., I appreciated its beauty, at the same time reflecting that many trees that had lived here before, witness to times and peoples, wars and peace. I slowed my breathing, taking in the loss of past times, and the people who had called this place home.
This photographic compilation of a girl in two poses under the ginkgo tree expresses the thoughts going through my head experienced that day. This foreigner in a faraway land like the tree, and the way I felt less of a stranger
now living back on Karangahape, finding myself in my own country.
MATARIKI 24
MAORI HALL - LOOKING BACK
Looking back.
This idea came from standing outside the Maori Hall on Edinburgh Street and thinking about how many memories the 1907 building held. I had the thought that buildings should stand alone to be noticed, that they may have stood alone at some time in the past and deserve to be appreciated on their own merits. The building now is squashed between two newer nondescript buildings and you could easily miss it walking past. It has a historical Places Trust 2 rating and was a Creche, a Foresters hall ( English fraternal society.) and then a hall for young Maori Gentlemen who needed somewhere to stay when moving into the cities to find work. Oh, the stories it could tell, if only those walls could talk.
MATARIKI 24
WHAT ONCE WAS
'What once was', is a snapshot of looking at time. The fisherman stands in his canoe as many do in 'Lago Santiago Atitlan' as they have for hundreds of years. Stuck in his ways, he becomes timeless. He looks back at things as they were,, Colonial states that have come and gone. A statue, a renaissance piece, based on a much older Greek myth.
In the present are the the birds and the foreground , and splash of water. The rising tide with its grand wave at the front is a hint towards my Gaia beliefs that nature will take everything back - also hinting towards global warming as some of my other works do.
I wanted to create a small
vintage oil painting, out of time, possibly like one on your grandparents wall. This looks as good on a small scale as it does large.
This image crops the full image from the sides .
Matariki 2023 KARANGAHAPE
Opening 5pm -later thur 13th july 2023, running for 2 weeks. This exhibition space at 214 Karangahape Road, Tamaki Makaurau is created to celebrate Matariki 2023 . I have four pieces joining a selection of local Artists and artisans in this communal Whare that is much more than an exhibition space.
All are for sale by messaging me 02102531669 or here on the site
please leave contact number and request . AK delivery or pick up.
'State House Stairs'. This is number 2 of 3. $525.00 framed (1 sold)
'Walk on by ' 1 of 1 . $375.00 framed
'Cristina's Ghost ' 1 of 10 A2 , $695.00 framed, $495.00 print.
'What once was' 1 of 5 A2 framed $895.00, unframed $595.00
Yes I do do smaller editions on request.
Nga mihi nui
THE GIRL IN THE MACHINE
This image is printed onto a shot of an early printing press,
now at home in the AUT foyer in Auckland's CBD.
It's a comment on how history is exactly that, 'His Story', no doubt women played an equal part. Where is her story?
It refers also to the part women played in the Industrial Revolution
She is very pretty. Perhaps she will go with the new curtains someone has brought. This Palette is one I often revert towards, maybe I should buy some curtains to go with it, ha.
As for the creepy guy on the side, no idea. Ask Caravaggio. One of the rare times I have photographed someone else's art and used it.
I am sure he would not mind.
I know his Muse would appreciate the attention.
On exhibition till 6 /11/22
TE QUIERO
Here's a old one. The original image Havana 2004. It sold out inthe Mercury Plaza Gallery Exhibition in 2022.
Oh I miss that place.
MY MEDIUMS
I use many different mediums, food , writing, photography. I break rules. Isn't that what they are there for?
I move to amplify an idea - sometimes completely change an idea, to ask the viewer too question - What it is they are viewing?
How does it make them feel?
This image in world where Rabbits rule, man arrives and is told he is not welcome. It leaves the question wide open , what did man do to his last world. This is a theme I return to in much of my work.
The Rabbit is from a 2008 sculpture by my Artist sibling , Jo Raill.