Forest has the Blues - Installation and Exhibition

Forest has the Blues, a collaborative print installation and exhibition, 

was successfully installed at Depot Artspace in Devonport, Auckland 

and was open to the public from July 14 - 25th. 

To read some background about this project, 

please visit my earlier posts here  and here.

 The 7 artists involved are: 

Celia Walker, 

Elle Anderson, 

Esther Hansen, 

Ina Arraoui, 

Kheang Ov, 

Nicola Ov 

and myself, Toni Hartill

plus work from a group of Esther Hansen's year 13 art students from Pukekohe High School:

Angus Edwards, Aleisha Neary, Bella Luiaka, Jayden Graham, Jamie Galvin, 
Thomas Scanlon-Jones, Nevin McCrum, Mary Regala, Yutong Pan, Edin Yin, 
Filomina Fagatoa, Christine Tulafono, Sam Lataipangai, 
Tamale Talanoa, Eden Hawkins and Chloe Marthe.

This project incorporated a large-scale print installation of native species and invasive weeds, as well as more than 200 native plants that were given away to the local community during the course of the exhibition.







An exhibition of works based on the theme of forest remnants accompanied the installation. 

Forest has the Blues now has a facebook page where you can view multiple albums of photographs of the installation, the opening event, each of the artworks, the students' contribution plus images of the Urban Forests talk by Dr Mike Wilcox and the print demo with the artists. "Like" the page to receive notifications about our ongoing events as we take this project ON THE ROAD!

Visit facebook: Forest has the blues

To follow are just some of the many images documenting the journey so far.

Installation Days 1 & 2

On day 2 of the installation we hung the exhibition of related artworks. 

The 200+ native plants  were delivered and unloaded.

Finishing touches: the lettering goes up,

...the plants are moved into the gallery.

In print!

On the cover of The Devonport Flagstaff newspaper.

We featured in the North Shore Times newspaper.

And again!

Opening event

According to an official count there were over 200 visitors to the opening event 

which we shared with the complimentary themed exhibition Whenua (Land).

The exhibitions were formally opened with a karakia (prayer) and welcome by
Jermaine Reihana followed by brief speeches.

These exhibitions also acknowledged celebrations for Matariki, (Maori New Year),a time to welcome "new beginnings, to reflect on the past and to show respect for the land."

Forest has the Blues Installation

Cyanotype panels by Celia Walker & Elle Anderson

Kauri trees, boot prints & Pohutukawa flowers by Nicola Ov

Nikau Palms & Puriri leaves by Ina Arraoui

Fern fronds, fern leaves and thistles by Kheang Ov

Foxgloves & cyanotype individual leaves by Elle Anderson

Moth plant, hounds tongue fern and morning glory vine by Toni Hartill

Students' work:

Acanthus by Angus Edwards

Kauri by Aleisha Neary

Crown fern by Bella Luiaka

Montbretia by Jayden Graham

Ponga leaves by Jamie Galvin

Ponga frond by Thomas Scanlon-Jones 

& Nevin McCrum

Puka by Mary Regala

Pohutukawa by Yutong Pan

Flax by Eden Yin

Tanekaha by Filomina Fagatoa

Sow thistle by Christine Tulafono

Kowhai by Sam Lataipangai 

& Tamale Talanoa

Puriri by Eden Hawkins

Arum lily by Chloe Marthe

(More detailed photographs of the installation 

can be seen on the#foresthastheblues facebook page.

There were so many aspects to the installation 

that the photo documenting could go on forever!

Leafy labels were used for people to reserve 

their chosen plant for pick up later.

 Forest remnants exhibition of works

Celia Walker

"Remnants, Traces" (Detail)

"Remnants, Traces" - cyanotype, linocut;
"Organ Systems I" - cyanotype, drypoint;
"Fragile Remnants" - cyanotype, linocut

"Remnants, Traces" (Detail)

Esther Hansen

"Gorse Swing I" - drypoint (Sold)

"Gorse Swing II" - drypoint

Nicola Ov

"New Beginnings" - solar print, hand painted

"Winds of Change" - solar print, relief print,
embossed, hand painted, stitched (Sold)

"Winds of Change" (detail)

"Game Over?" - solar print, screen print, stitching

 Toni Hartill

"Gone to Pasture. Every. One" - linocut, stitching (Sold)

"Lost Forests of the Plains I, II" - linocut,
monoprint, stitching (I Sold)

"RemnantsI,II,III" - linocut (Sold individually)

Ina Arraoui

"Kawakawa" - woodcut (Sold)

"Mamaku" - woodcut

Kheang Ov

"Wonderment & Awe I" - woodcut

"Wonderment & Awe I" - woodcut

Elle Anderson

"Demise through Suffocation I" - cyanotype, monoprint

"Demise through Suffocation I" (Detail)

"Urban Forests of Auckland"

- a talk by Dr Mike Wilcox

Despite dire weather warnings, heavy rain and cold temperatures we had small group of keen people come along to listen to a very interesting talk about the many aspects to the urban forests of the Auckland region.

Print Demo

- a show and tell by participating artists

Several of the artists involved brought along their printmaking plates 

and tools and explained the processes they used to produce their work.

Pack up/ De-install/ Its a wrap!

  At only 12 days long this was a short and sweet time frame but we certainly managed to get above the average number of visitors to the gallery in this time, according to the gallery counting.

Pre-pack up pic

Taking it all down and packing it away was certainly a LOT quicker than the install.

We sure created a LOT of pin holes in the walls!

By chance I left the moth plant and the morning glory vine til the end to take down so I was then able to photograph it on its own. Its hard to get an idea of the scale like this but it reaches over 3m up the gallery wall. It was an extra bonus to enjoy the large multi-layered shadows created by the morning glory vine which was suspended from the lighting gantry.

 So, that's the "Forest has the Blues" installation and exhibition, mark I, all done and dusted.

Thanks to all who 

participated, supported, visited, purchased...

Thanks to Celia Walker 

who dreamt up the idea of having an ecological installation in the first place!

Thanks to all of the artists involved - it is a pleasure working with you all!

Thanks to the students of Pukekohe High School 

- your huge contribution to our installation added real depth and interest to the show and received a lot of high praise from visitors!

Thanks to the team at Depot Artspace, Devonport

- such a wonderfully supportive team and a beautiful gallery to be a part of.

and a special thanks to Auckland Creative Communities NZ, 

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, Restoring Takarunga Hauraki 

and Devonport Peninsula Trust. We couldn't have done it all without your support!

Finally,

NEWSFLASH!

We are installing  the "Forest has the Blues" installation

at the 

Auckland Botanic Gardens

tomorrow, Wed 31st July!

We are very honoured to have been invited to install

"Forest has the Blues" alongside "Symbiosis",  

an exhibition, curated by Toni Mosley, that looks at the 

relationships between plants, trees and other organisms.

Open to the public 

5 August - 9 September, 2018.

in the Huakaiwaka Gallery.

Follow our updates on our fb page or watch this space!

Our artists are all members of 

Studio Printmakers Collective 

and 

PCANZ 

(Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand).

Thanks for visiting!

Ka kite ano!