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| Auckland Museum Acquisitions from Artful Narratives |
I am so very delighted and honoured that the Auckland War Memorial Museum
has purchased a number of pieces from my exhibition Artful Narratives
to add to their special collections:
The Butter Book
Once a Grand & Noble Forest...
There Be Treasure (Rockpool)
Field Notes: Manawa, 1/3
Gateway
Fenced In
...are all off to their new home soon! And oh what a home!
www.aucklandmuseum.com
It's exciting to realise that this revered home of our national taonga is eager to add artists' voices to the artefacts held in their special collections, to enhance and enrich the stories of our natural and social history, particularly of the Auckland and Northland region.
I'm very grateful to Paula Legel, Associate Curator, for spying my blog post on the Auckland Research Centre's Heritage et Al blogsite, and leading the way for these works to be acquisitioned.
CLICK on the links in the titles below,
to go to earlier posts about each of these works.
The Butter Book
2019
Coptic
stitched book
Linocut,
collagraph, digital
The
timber of the Kahikatea was found to be perfect for transporting butter and
cheese by refrigerated ship to the UK. The soft, pale, odourless timber did not
taint the dairy products on their long journey. As a result the Kahikatea
forests were reduced by 63% in the peak period of 1909 – 1917 due to the flurry
of activity to export NZ’s dairy products.
In
1913 a Royal Commission was asked to decide how the areas of New Zealand “still
under standing forest” should be dealt with. The response in regards to the
Kahikatea swamps was clear. This quote is included within the butter
book:
‘As
is well known the soil of the white-pine swamps, when drained and the trees
removed, forms one of the richest of agricultural land, which when grassed, is
extremely useful for dairy farms… Since no land is more suitable for occupation
than that of the white-pine swamps, when drained… their value in this regard is
a strong plea in favour of the removal of the trees forthwith.’
.JPG)
Once a Grand and Noble Forest...
2019
Stab
binding
Linocut,
collagraph, vintage silk ribbon
This
book was inspired by an article, written by a descendant of the Bagnall
brothers who ran a mill on the banks of the Waihou River at Turua, Hauraki
Plains. There they milled Kahikatea trees to be made into butter boxes. The
descendant expresses regret for their family’s part in the destruction of the
forest as they describe the “men with axe and saw, slashing their way
into the doomed bush… It was the beginning of the end for many of the feathered
world that inhabited its depths… The massive trunks came faster and faster…
but a grand and noble forest lay dying.”
Le
Baigneau, “Where the Village Slew the Forest”, NZ Herald, 24 April 1937.
Link to
the full newspaper article that inspired this work:
There Be Treasure
2017
Original
3D Structure
Caustic
etch lino, lino cut, monotype, papercut, crochet, wire
Pop-up
theatres, shoe-box dioramas and press-and-fold paper toys all spark the
nostalgia of childhood memories, of the magic of taking a two dimensional image
and transforming it into a three dimensional "world". In this artwork
I venture to reignite the viewer's magical childhood powers of imagination to
step through the looking glass and enter the Lilliputian world of this rocky
pool. My often visited theme of rock pools stems from my fascination since
childhood of these mini microcosms abundant along our shores, each one unique
in its inhabitants and ecology, tiny treasure chests of the sea.
.JPG)
Field Notes: Manawa
2018
Concertina
book
Drypoint,
collagraph, watercolour
Edition of 3, Book no. 1/3
Drawn
by the appeal of a weathered and much handled book, that collects information
over time and becomes a treasured artefact in itself, these books were inspired
by my grandfather’s surveying logbooks, kept over many years.
They
are made entirely out of printed paper textures to imitate weathered surfaces
such as the linen lining, the leather cover and the stitched label. Of course
every field trip needs some tools of the trade hence the pocket of pretend
treasures. I have always been interested in recreating something to look like
the real thing, hence the pocket of fake treasures and tools.
and from the body of work "In Residence, In Residence"
created in response to the first lockdown in March 2020:
2020
Folded structures
Inkjet-printed
photography on paper and card, hand cut and folded
This unexpected body of work came about
in response to the experience of the whole country, in fact most of the world,
being in “Lockdown” during March – May 2020, due to the Covid pandemic.
Feeling
unsettled and unnerved I directed my attention to look more closely at my
immediate surroundings, my home of 27 years. Unable to
focus my energies on the complexities of my usual printmaking processes, and in
need of a more direct approach, I found myself photographing my house and
garden in intimate detail, searching for the aspects that have tied my heart
strings to this location for so long.
Considering concepts of being locked
in, enclosed, and contained, I began creating folded and manipulated structures
to express ideas that reflected this period of isolation and confinement. The
angst of feeling hemmed in, restrained and restricted was tempered with
gratitude for feeling safe, cocooned and protected.
From folding boxes made from views of
the house, looking outwards and looking inwards, I progressed to exploring the
entire garden considering the property boundaries as if a container in which I
was boxed, peeking outwards and peering inwards through fences and gardens,
(while being mildly mindful of what the neighbours might be thinking if they
saw me skulking in the shrubbery!)
This “unprecedented” period of
isolation provided the perfect opportunity for new ideas and ways of working to
develop and evolve without the temptation of outside distractions and
commitments.
Gateway
In this piece I was very mindful of missing family and friends and of how it wasn't possible at the time to welcome people through my front gate as I normally would. Visitors would have to peer through the gateway to the house but not cross the boundary and conversations would have to be had from a distance.
Fenced In
This piece was developed towards the end of what felt like a long period of containment, within my own home and garden. I was exploring the outer limits of the boundary between us and the neighbours, imagining them on the other side of the fence, also contained. Who was peering at who, through the fences? As it turned out, this was just the first of many lockdowns and certainly not the longest for us in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
It seems incredible to think that one day I might visit the museum
to see my own work displayed within their collections!
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| Auckland War Memorial Museum |
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| Auckland War Memorial Museum |
Last pic reposted from @aucklandmuseum
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| Inside the Auckland War Memorial Museum grand entrance |
As my exhibition draws to a close in the next couple of days,
be sure to pop back for some updates on other developments
and a wrap-up, summarising this experience of
holding my first ever solo exhibition.
Then, it will be full steam ahead, working towards new deadlines
and goals for the coming months and year ahead.
I hope you'll continue to join me!
