ipu whenua - Kahikatea is a small ephemeral sculptural installation which I have used as a metaphor for this stage of my life
I have written a poem to express some thoughts & feelings about that & also generally about being a woman

i am woman
​
i am open
i am resilient
i am fragile

i can be damaged

i will hold you 
i will laugh with you 
i will cry with you

i can carry you

i will nurture you though you may not be mine
i will accept you & you will have a place in my heart
& when you leave i will always cry

i am finite
i am imperfect
i am doing what i can

& when i'm gone there will be others & our stories will combine & they will be whispered by the wind

November 2018 

I have enjoyed immensely the process of making for this exhibition.
It was equally cathartic & therapeutic. It has enabled me to chuck a lot of 'shit' out. 
It has allowed me to accept the role I have moved in to at this stage of my life & I am genuinely happy to be here.
You could say relieved even.

I don't want to live in the past.
​I acknowledge the past & the effect it has had on every living thing.
What is done is done.
I want to live now & for the future. We can do that together.
​If, however, I've let you go it's because I've needed to.
I've decided to let your life continue without me in it.
It's your life after all. 

There's only one aspect of the exhibition which has made me sad.
​​'All work must be for sale and the gallery will charge a commission . . . . '
I just don't believe this is how a woman would do it.

with love
​Sal x

The Cross Pollination series is happily hanging in the company of friends.
Here my 3 works are hanging beside MiSun Kim’s gorgeous ink on paper work & Howard Tuffery’s stunning andesite sculpture. 

Vital Transformations is the name of this exhibition & it is on at 'Koru on Devon' a gallery space, upstairs at 18b Devon St East, New Plymouth.

These 3 works were selected to part of ‘Vital Transformations : Mauri Ora’ which comprises 3 exhibitions held in 3 different locations in the New Plymouth CBD over the month of July. 
​The entire exhibitions feature almost 30 works by as many artists. 

Each exhibition has a different kaupapa (theme) & the works have been curated accordingly. 

It’s a quiet & unpretentious event with a message that is not immediately apparent.

The curator, Ian Clothier, has written an essay for each exhibition which hangs alongside. 
The last two images are of a couple of pages of the essay he wrote to hang with this exhibition & include his interpretation of our works.

It has been wonderful to be part of this exhibition. 
It is wonderful to be in the company of people who feel & think about environmental things with the passion , enthusiasm & love that I feel for the world we live in.

Ian's attention to detail, selection & grouping of works allows each piece the time & space for it's voice to heard.

Land lines is an exploration of what it is to be indigenous to place & a comment about the responsibility which comes with that role.

Land lines is a comment on the attitude toward land & the treatment of land in the modern context, especially regarding the industrial farming practices of rural Taranaki.
The modern context seems to view land as being useful ONLY if it can be somehow made to make, save or hoard money for individuals.

It is a comment about how the geographical & geological boundaries are no longer regarded as significant nor honoured.

It is a comment about how the rivers who originate from the mountain & who remain somewhat protected within the circular confines of the national park are completely disrespected on the other side; they are polluted, their course is altered & their river banks are denuded.

It is a comment about how the songlines have been replaced with landlines.

It is a passionate comment, without aggression but with inconsolable sadness.

Land lines was created to be my entry into the annual Lysaght Watt Art Awards which is currently on til June 10th at the gallery in Hawera.
The LWAW is hosted & funded by the trust & each year there is a theme for the submissions to comply with.
This year the theme was 'Rising'.