"Where are you from?"
For most of us, our birthplace and the land we grew up in have strong ties to personal identity. When asked to describe ourselves, it's commonplace to state our name and our nationality. Where we are from is part of our core selves. It can give us a sense of belonging, of grounding.
For most of us, our birthplace and the land we grew up in have strong ties to personal identity. When asked to describe ourselves, it's commonplace to state our name and our nationality. Where we are from is part of our core selves. It can give us a sense of belonging, of grounding.
I grew up in Cornwall in the UK. Summer tourists would pack themselves like sardines onto the golden beaches, but in the grey and wet winter months, the blustery shores and clifftop walks were mine alone. I would walk for hours, resting on rocky outcrops to watch the waves crash and feel the salt spray on my skin. When I first came across 'the gap' at Piha Beach in Auckland, it reminded me so vividly of the west coast of Cornwall. Over years of repeated visits to Piha, I came to realise that I was seeking out that memory of another place and time. In dwelling in the past, I lost a sense of myself in the present.
This exhibition took place February 29 - March 23 (2024) at 250 Gallery, Ponsonby, Auckland (New Zealand). It was the product of an 18-month introspective considering identity. It featured a series of mixed media works visualising the ocean and incorporating place by using seawater in paintings. I was first introduced to this loose style of semi-uncontrolled creation by my mother, and so the making of each work strengthened my connection to family, home, and identity. DWELL also featured a moving image and sound work, shown below, to visualise the liminal space I inhabited mentally during this time.
