Key Practice Questions

  • 17 October 2024

I am interested in how the land in Aotearoa was altered after colonisation and the lasting social and ecological impact of those actions. For millions of years, a Kahikatea forest flourished on the swamp lands of the Hauraki Plains, and later provided fish, birds, roots, flax, and building materials for local Māori. “As rich in food resources and raw materials as anything in Aotearoa.”[1] Joseph Banks encountered the swamp of the Hauraki Plains on Captain Cook’s first voyage, and it could be said that his words of ‘waste’ started the destruction of the ancient forest. The new Crown government declared these lands 'waste' and a process of procurement, dredging and draining began.[2]

Researching the details surrounding the land transfer into Crown and consequently, settlers' hands makes for uncomfortable reading. In many cases, the land may be considered 'sold,' but legal manoeuvres and other pressures often played a significant role in shifting ownership.

Drawing on my family history in the Hauraki Plains, my childhood home, I depict the land and the transformation its wetlands. While I acknowledge my ancestors—their difficult decisions and the hard work they invested in settling in this country—I also believe the acquisition and destruction of this land should not be forgotten. I aim to convey how the land was altered and the lasting social and ecological impact of those actions, inviting people to question, care, and take care.

- How did the decisions of Aotearoa's colonisers impact the physical landscape, the flora and fauna, and the social environment? How do those decisions, those changes affect us today?

I paint with watercolour as it feels close to the swampy lands of pre-colonisation and it’s a low-impact medium as opposed to acrylic or oil. I use Piako River water with my watercolour so that I am using some of the local area, it feels right. I am working with butter paper because all the Kahikatea on the Hauraki Plains were cut down to make butter boxes for exporting dairy produce, but it also serves as a reminder of the fragility of the environment. I'm investigating making paint from Piako River mud and Kahikatea leaves and cones to connect with the area closely. Using local materials such as mud is not something I’m comfortable with, yet.

Two artists that use the local materials for their practice. Artist Te Ara Minhinnick “uses indigenous methods of practice to reconstruct installations that underline the historical, political, and material aspects of whenua, uku, and wai-ora.”[3] Artist Kate van der Drift's "photographic negatives inside light-proof containers were immersed in the waters of the river Piako, which runs from the Hauraki plains into the Firth of Thames. Van der Drift’s work explicitly deals with the idea of land use, and the issues around ownership, pollution and mana whenua that are inextricably bound to the history of that land."[4]

Alternatively, two artists that use traditional materials like oil and board, but are talking about the same subject. Artist Barbara Tuck's work focuses on "human failures to comprehend and learn in a time of ecological frailty", but the artist uses traditional painting materials such as oil on board.[5] Michael Shepherd is another artist who does not use local materials, but paints themes around “history, warfare, insignia, indigeneity, colonialism, landscape, ecology, botany, geomorphology, art history.”[6]

- What can painting the process of life and the drainage of the Hauraki Plains tell us about the societal and environmental changes and implications?

- Can using localised materials help signify the area, the land?

European pastoral landscape painting is often of an inhabited landscape, depicting serene scenes of well-tended farms, rolling hills, and cultivated fields. These images evoke a sense of harmony between humans and nature, portraying an idealised and peaceful countryside. In such landscapes, human intervention is seen as a positive force, where nature is subdued, ordered, and productive, offering a reassuring view of human control over the environment. 

Charles Heaphy was an English watercolourist who worked for the New Zealand Company, painting pictures of Aotearoa to entice settlers from England. His watercolour paintings were altered for advertising to show a ‘sprawling, well-drained, well-wooded open plains country’.[7]

In order not to romanticise the area and the history, I have been tracing historical photos onto butter paper and painting with watercolour, experimenting with brighter colours, as opposed to sepia tones. Using photographs of family yes, but also of the dredging machines and machinery – a treeless muddy land.

- How do I depict the Hauraki Plains to show the damage made by decisions that disregard people and the environment? In Barbara Tuck’s words, “failures to comprehend and learn in a time of ecological frailty”?

 

[1] Geoff Park, Theatre Country: Essays on Landscape & Whenua (Wellington, New Zealand: Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2024). p.183

[2] Park, Theatre Country: Essays on Landscape & Whenua. p.185

[3] SCAPE Public Art, “Te Ara Minhinnick - SCAPE Public Art,” SCAPE Public Art - SCAPE Public Art, December 8, 2023, https://www.scapepublicart.org.nz/artist/te-ara-minhinnick/.

[4] Photoforum Staff, “Listening to a Wet Land - Review — PhotoForum,” PhotoForum, September 13, 2023, https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/listeningtoawetland-kate-van-der-drift.

[5] “BARBARA TUCK - Anna Miles Gallery,” Anna Miles Gallery, February 29, 2024, https://annamilesgallery.com/exhibitions/barbara-tuck-6/.

[6] “Gond - Two Rooms,” Two Rooms, September 13, 2023, https://tworooms.co.nz/exhibitions/gond/.

[7] Park, Theatre Country: Essays on Landscape & Whenua. p.186

 

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