Earthskin Residency, Muriwai 2018

In 2018, I was fortunate to be awarded an artist residency at Earthskin with partner Neil Aldridge. Catapulted out of the routine demands of life back in Wellington this proved to be a deeply rich, experimental, and contemplative time where seeds were sown for both The Nature of Things and Fluid Bodies.

I’ll never forget arriving late on a stormy night. We couldn’t see anything outside as we ran for the door. I slept intermittently like an excited child desperate to explore my surroundings. At first light, I stepped out onto the bedroom balcony to an assembly of nikau palms.  It was as if these sentinel beings had walked out of the forest to offer a greeting, but also a challenge — “Let’s see what you’ll accomplish here on this land.“