Gift Series
Gift (Koha) Series inspired by my private and public collections of NZ Maori artifacts. The pounamu ear piece I inherited from a Great Aunt and layer up in my paintings showing generations of family connected by it. All works reflect items once worn or held by someone no longer of this world linking us to our past.
2007 Pounamu Green. 1mx1m Acrylic on Canvas
Twins 2003 Oil on plywood
White Series
White Series 2004 Hand made gesso, silver and golf leaf, mica, acrylic and shellac.
Gesso Series
Using the ancient method of making gesso from ground up calcite (lime) and animal hoof glue, these works on oval boards follow an exploration into the way pearls are created by nacre secreted inside the oyster shell and the eye or cocoon shape resulted from previous series of works where I looked at the idea of subjective decision making and the feeling I got when I discovered the graves of long lost ancestors. Initially using expressive random gestures to create the surface texture I am moving to a more considered gesture reflecting the surrounding land and sea in Northland.
