I live on the coastline of the West Coast of the South Island. I like to think of my work as environmental, and it is hugely about what I have absorbed living in this wild landscape. Although equally important to the work is my inner landscape, the work is based on my environment and environmental issues. Overlaid with imaginings, dreamings, a personal dialogue.
I like to think the art making process is like going for a walk, usually made alone, usually first thing in the morning, catching all of the spiderwebs on my face, often with a sheet of rain coming in across the waves. My favourite walk is along the beach near where I live, walking through coastal subtropical forest of Ake Ake, Rata and Kamahi threading through the Nikau palms and tree ferns down to a secret beach circled with cliffs, where the shifting ocean overlaps thoughts and cormorants fly.
It’s my creative mission to evoke wild places mixed with a nostalgic dreaming narrative, brought to life with pencils, watercolours, oil paint and printmaking techniques.
And all made in the hope that we can preserve the places we love.
Mary
