Opening night:
Friday 2nd October, 5-7pm

This collection of works share the collective title Downstream Under and looks at issues and effects of interventions both natural and man-made on our river environments. Our waterways from the mountains to the sea has been a constant source of inspiration for me. I don’t generally come at a work with a set resolution in mind but by taking a theme try and explore ideas issues through particular aesthetics and juxtapositions that swirl around these themes. The final work is never complete but a step on a greater journey. In this collection there are two themes which I will put together and hopefully find some meaningful connections. The first is in the works titled Digging for Gold which directly reference the proposed gold mine at Bendigo near Cromwell in Central Otago. This is a proposal to undertake large scale open-cast gold mining in the hills around Bendigo. This is a brutal process in an area of natural and historic beauty which will leave as it legacy tailings dams contaminated with arsenic. The second theme also relates to mining and refers to Foulden Maar a significant archaeological site near the Strath Taieri in the Middlemarch. In 1875 geologists searching for mineral resources reported a deposit of fresh water diatomite. Diatomite has a number of industrial uses and sporadic mining took place from the 1940`s to the 1970`s. Students and researchers from the University of Otago began visiting the site from the 1960`s finding fossilised treasures with an extraordinary degree of preservation. This rich archaeological site was put under threat in 2019 when plans for a massive mining operation was revealed. Soon after this the company proposing this mining operation went into liquidation so the immediate threat was removed. Worryingly, however this globally important unique fossil site is still at risk of destruction because no legislation exists in New Zealand to protect geological and paleontological taonga on privately owned land. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of scientists this area has been brought to the attention of the wider public and remarkable examples of flora and fauna from this area some 23 million years ago can be viewed. To be given these insights and connections over such a massive period of time allows me exciting creative possibilities and connections to the present.