About

ONEE is constructed from onepuu, an iron rich sand, that was collectively gathered. This process carries a weight of labour – digging, lifting, carrying and transporting it to the gallery before it was shaped by hand into this mound. The labour in the work reflects the generational obligations that come with being of the land, tangata whenua. 

I’ve reflected on how whenua is historically depicted, in this work the whenua reveals itself. Emerging from the gallery’s black floor, the whenua moves through cycles of impermanence - shifting, collapsing, drying, falling away, only to transform again. Form and formlessness coalesce in a state of Te Korekore, that which is becoming constantly.

The oneone in this installation is sourced from Karioitahi, a site where the Waikato River meets Te Tai o Rehua - a site that carries historical significance for my Iwi. I trace my whakapapa in this work drawing closer my whaanau and Iwi and my role within its lineage. In doing so, whenua becomes a link to this whakatakototanga – a material that is constantly being laid down, as physical foundation, as a wero, as a material politically charged, potent.